Boys

The boys had their annual Drs. appointment last week. I warned them before we went that the Dr. would need to look at their scrotum and feel their balls. I wanted to make sure they would be comfortable with our female pediatrician. Last year we went to a male Dr. at the same practice and I thought he was a dud. Anyway to witness their reaction to the scrotum test was so funny, it took all I had not to laugh. The Dr. could not feel EE's left testicle so she sent us to get an ultrasound of his scrotum. Fun times in this house.

The radiology place almost turned us away at the ultrasound place because I had Tee with us. But she said as long as he stayed in my lap it would be ok. She gave us instructions before she left the room. EE had to get undressed and then take this blue napkin and wrap his penis in it and move it to the side. The first part of the instructions was ok and then I got to she wants us to do what with you penis....she does realize it is just not that big. So I opted to flap his penis up and put the blue napkin over it. When she got back and started she just had him hold the napkin so he penis would not come flapping out as she was moving the ultrasound wand. She couldn't share any information with me, but from the information I did get from her my take was that everything is ok and where it should be. This is what we thought but it never hurts to be sure.

We have always given the boys the proper names to all their body parts. It is what it is so we call it like that. I don't have a problem with it and neither does my husband. I do want to be open and honest with my boys especially when they start asking the tough questions. I would much rather them hear it from us than get bits and pieces from their friends who probably don't have it all together correct. I think I should start reading books now to help me prepare.

Moving on to the big boy in the house. Sunday we are sitting at the table eating lunch and he looks at me and says he feels lazy and like he should be doing something. I immediately jump in with a slew of things he can do, you know fun stuff like dusting, vacuuming etc. His response is no not those kind of things, outdoor projects to make our house look better. I guess housework is not on the top of his list either. We ended up cleaning up the garage and boy does it look better than ever. We threw away a lot of stuff and organized all of the toys.

We also found that we had a TON of shoes in the garage. Most of the ones the boys have outgrown. The shoes that were in good condition got boxed up for Tee when he gets to the sizes. We had probably 15 pairs from sizes 12 to 1. Tee will have it made. We also had shoes that were in poor condition, about 12 pairs. I have boxed these up and will send them to be recycled. Check out the website. The reuse a shoe program is sponsored by Nike. They use the rubber on the bottom to use in sports and playground equipment surfaces. The website provides drop off areas around the US and also a printout of a label to use to mail your shoes. I will have the box mailed out this week sometime. A great cause!

A little bit of Green

I mentioned that I would do research on how we can become a little more green. I am currently in the process of canceling all the catalogs I receive in the mail. Here are a few of them: Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Lands' End, Lands' End kids, One step ahead. I am sure there will be many more in the next month or so. Yes, I do like browsing through the catalogs but I rarely ever buy anything from them. I really don't need them. I usually make my purchases on the website directly. I have turned to the Catalog Choice website for assistance. Once you register, all you will need is the information from the back of the catalog and they will do the rest. Did I mention this is a free service? Simple as that! I entered some in on Sunday and I can check the status on my page. None of the catalogs have been confirmed for cancellation yet but hopefully in the next week or so I will be taken off the list.

I am guilty of receiving a host of magazines in the mail. I can't do without my People, Parents, Redbook and my all time favorite Southern Living. After I read the magazines I take them up to a hospital, who usually loves having these donated, so that others can read them. It makes me feel a little better knowing that they are getting read a few times.

Junk

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"

I am not sure who came up with the quote but I have found it to be so true recently. I am a huge Craigslist fan (www.craigslist.org). I mentioned that we will be getting some landscape done in early fall. We have/had 6 plants in the backyard that we are not going to keep or reuse. I thought it would be worth a shot to offer on Craigslist to see if I could give them away in return for the person coming to dig them out and take them away. Otherwise, we would be charged out the wazoo to have the Nursery take them out. The hubs could have dug them out but then we would be faced with how to get rid of them. Getting rid of them just did not seem very environmentally conscious. Sure enough listed them out there 1 guy/part-time gardener is taking 5 and one other person took 1.

We gave away our old patio set. When I say old I mean it was old. We had it at our first house, so it must be close to 9 years old. It was a wood table with 4 chairs and a bench. All of the bolts were loose and it needed a fresh coat of stain. I am also waiting for someone to come pick up our old grill, which was broken in our move (the movers reimbursed us for the cost). Today I sold a mirror and a fan and a few weeks ago we sold an old lawn mower. Now I need to get into storage to see what other stuff/junk we have in storage.

Green Day

Today I have decided we are going to make a few steps to become a little "greener". I have read article after article about people making a few changes that can make a huge difference. I will do my research and let you know what we will be doing to help out mother earth. There are certain things we won't do and I am sure there are things we will work up to. Don't worry I will not preach to you and tell you that you have to make any changes, but I will challenge you to at least think about it. My husband doesn't know about this yet I guess he will when he reads my post.