March Madness

Things have been crazy this month. Yes, we had Taylor's 13 birthday bash......22 teens and tweens here in our house. It was.......an experience. It was fun, just crazy. I'll post about that another day.

The main reason it's been hectic this month has more to do with our insurance change. John's company, like so many others, is trying to find ways to cut back. So they went to a cheaper insurance that will not only require us to pay more out of pocket, but is just, well, for lack of a better term....crappy. We've had it before, and ALWAYS have trouble with it.

Keeping things in perspective, though, we understand that we are fortunate that he at least still has his job......for now, anyway. So hard to know what the future holds, especially in this economy. I'm getting a bit off track. The main reason for this month being so hectic is that I tried to fit in as many appointments as possible before April 1st. It's always a pain in the neck straightening everything out when insurance changes. There's all this proof of prior coverage and preexisting conditions, etc. etc. All very frustrating. Been there and done that before. So this month has been chock full of appts.....dentist, eye doctor, and regular doctor.....all four kids and us, if possible.

Here's what we accomplished in this frenzy of March...

Evan- dentist, eye doctor, well-check, and pediatric cardiologist (he checked out fine with all of them!)
Alexa- dentist, eye doctor (she got her first set of glasses), and well-check (needs some tests, but nothing urgent)
Skylar- dentist and eye doctor (no well-check ~just not enough time to fit it all in)
Taylor- dentist (1 cavity, already filled~great experience for her with our new dentist), eye doctor ( she got contacts), no well-check for her either
Me- dentist (this was done in Dec and Jan, but it's still done), no eye doctor or physical due to lack of time
John- eye doctor, no dentist or physical due to lack of time

Sigh

So I'd say we accomplished a lot. I tried to prioritize and do the most important things first. At this point, what's done is done. I will get on all that new insurance stuff ASAP. I find it's best to be proactive when working with insurance companies.

Now I just need to get my van inspected. Did I mention that expired today too? Oh well. I hope to make that the very next place I go.

Not sure when that will be, though, because Skylar just threw up twice tonight and has a massive headache. :-( Poor thing. (sorry for the TMI) Could you say a prayer for her, please?

Hope you had a great March. I, myself, am really looking forward to April....which will be here in about 45 minutes.

TTFN
~Tina

Some Bedroom Changes

We recently moved Evan to a big boy bed. We gave him Taylor's old bed, and got her a full size bed. Then we made Evan's room suit a toddler/preschooler, rather than the baby theme he used to have. He loves cars and trains, so we combined those themes. Here are some pictures of the changes in Evan's room.

Before...
After...

Before.....

After...Before.....After...We added this colorful organizer after the above picture was taken. It gave him more places to put his toys. He loves his new big boy room!
Taylor had to get some new bedding, since we didn't have any full size sheets in the house. She was happy to have the change. I don't have any before pictures, but the after pics show how the bedding reflects her personality.
I think they are both pretty happy with their new rooms!

TTFN

~Tina

Evan's First Time at the Dentist

We love our new dentist, and all of the wonderful people in his office. Recently all of the kids had their checkups. They did wonderfully! And Evan had his first official visit and he did great! He sat still when they needed him to, and chatted with the dentist and all the staff. Evan is very social and loved the attention. They didn't do a thorough exam or cleaning....just enough to get him used to it. I thought he was going to fall asleep during the cleaning with the "tickly toothbrush". He was so cute! And they put sunglasses on him to protect his eyes from the light. So he was totally relaxed.

Then they let him be an assistant for Alexa's cleaning. He got to wear the gloves and push the button for her x-rays!

And Alexa, who has had trouble in the past, did very well! She loved it! She even got an awsome pack when she was done.

Yep, we're lovin' this new dentist!

TTFN

~Tina

Yes, I'm Her Mom, but I'm Still Impressed

In a recent post, I mentioned that Taylor was working on another sewing project, this one totally from scratch. Well, she finished it with VERY impressive results. I know she is my daughter, so I might be a bit partial, so see what you think.....

This lovely retro fabric....

and using a pattern....she began to cut out the shapes of fabric needed.....

Then she began to sew......and sew.....and sew........until she emerged from her room with this lovely new, retro garment....

With a couple of very minor alterations, it fit her perfectly. It looks so lovely and flattering on her. And it took her less than two days to complete. Wow.

I don't know about you, but

I'm impressed.

TTFN

~Tina

I Like This Idea

We now have a teenager in the house. Taylor's been acting like a teen for a while ;-) and now it's official. We are always looking for ways to teach her responsibility. There's a new card out to help teach teens financial responsibility. It's called Current by Discover. It works as a debit card, with the parents setting the spending limits on the card every day, week or month. It also enables you to track your teens spending online. I love the idea that Taylor wouldn't have endless amounts of credit at her disposal. And that it's up to her to keep track of how much she is spending. I wish I had known about this earlier. It would have come in handy for the birthday party that Taylor is planning for herself. I gave her a budget to follow, and she's doing well, but with the Current card, I would know for sure that she only spent the allotted amount. And it would force her to budget, while giving her freedom to make important spending decisions for herself. Oh, and these cards come in some really cool "teen" designs. You can check them out here. For more information and to sign up for a Current by Discover card, click right here.

TTFN

~Tina

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAYLOR!

Wow....my baby is a teenager. Ok, so she's my oldest, but she was my first baby. I am so proud of her. She is such a good person, with many, many talents. And she's growing up. Way. Too. Fast.

Such a beautiful girl..........inside and out.

We love you, Taylor!

Happy 13th Birthday!

Love,

Mom, Dad, Skylar, Alexa and Evan

By the way, she got contacts just in time for her birthday. She's very happy about it.

(Thanks to all our family who have sent gifts and cards for her. She really does appreciate it!)

She's Back

Skylar was taking Karate lessons last school year and part of the year before. But this past Fall, the class she used to take fell through, so we weren't sure what to do. She was either going to have to get serious about this, or quit altogether. We decided to wait until Christmas to see if she was still interested. Well, she definitely was. So for Christmas, Skylar got Karate lessons!

She's enjoying them so much! On her first day back she said, "It feels like I'm home, again". I guess she's serious about this.

TTFN

~Tina

Big Change for Alexa

Alexa was so excited to go from this......

To this....

Yep, my little girlie's got glasses.

And she couldn't be happier about it.

She was just lovin' this little photo shoot. Can you tell?

I think she looks older, which makes her happy.

And this cute little glasses case was just icing on the cake.

She's so adorable. And she's been doing great with her new glasses. Two days of wearing them, now, and she already seems pretty used to them.

At Mass this morning, I looked over at Alexa sitting there beside me and noticed how she was looking all around and up at the lights on the high ceiling. So, not only is she enjoying how cute she looks in them, I think she's realizing just how much better she can see now.

TTFN

~Tina

Evan's First Eye Appt.

I'm one of those people who likes to have photos of as many "firsts" as possible. I know my oldest daughter was thinking I'm a bit silly, but I just had to snap a photo or two of Evan at the eye doctor. He did so well and was just so darn cute sitting in that big chair. I didn't take any during the exam because it would have distracted him, but I took these ones right before the eye doctor came in.

And this is the kids waiting room. The children were enjoying Kung Fu Panda on this day.We just love this eye doctor. She is so good with children. And actually all of the people that work there are friendly. Evan loves it there!

Have a great Sunday!

TTFN

~Tina

Another Snow Day!

Yep, that snow finally came. Here are some scenes from our second snow day this year....

After all that crazy, cold fun....they came into this...And Evan was sooooo ready for this........


TTFN

~Tina