1-800-222-1222

If you are a parent and you don't have that number somewhere accessible in your house here is the little voice telling you to put it somewhere! Those of you who have ever had to use it know that it is the toll free number for Poison Control. And if you've never had to use it you are very lucky! Twice this year I've been on the phone with the wonderful people who work for poison control and I am very grateful that they are there!

The first time was when Bri thought it would be good to give Jonah Purell hand sanitizer to drink. He immediately threw up (and you would too- apparently that stuff is nasty!!!) and began screaming! Upon calling poison control they assured me that he'd almost have to drink the whole bottle before we'd have to worry about adverse affects and to just give him some water to drink because it does burn. So, if you've ever heard about the little girl that died after licking her hands after she had just cleaned them with Purell- it never happened! Apparently they'd have to drink the whole bottle-and they'd never finish it-it hurts too bad!

The second time was yesterday when I discovered an empty bottle of generic children's benedryl and a sleepy little girl taking a nap on her bed at 3 in the afternoon. Bri doesn't take naps anymore.. I lost that joy about 9 months ago, so I knew something was a little off. She had been at the park all afternoon with her sitter so I thought maybe she was just worn out. Then I found the empty bottle and freaked out! I knew it had at least 5 tsp left in it, but I had no idea how much she had drank, or if she had drank any at all! I called the pedetrician's office and they told me to call poison control while they checked with the doctors. The lady at poison control did her little calculations (however they do that) and determined that Bri would have to drink 11-12 tsp before they would recommend her going to the hospital! 11-12 TSP!!!!!! WOW!!!!! Does that sound high to anyone else?!?!?! They told me just to let her sleep it off and that she could be irratible (great!), have a flushed face, dry mouth and dialated pupils.

Well, she did sleep for about 3 hours or so (she was with my mom because I had class) and when she did wake up they went to get ice cream and she doesn't remember that at all! She remembers sitting at a pink table (actually the table was white- she was eating strawberry ice cream!!!! LOL!!!!) but that's it. Today she has been fine-her allergy cough is gone (imagine that!!!!) and I feel very lucky! Apparently she spilled it first and then drank whatever was left so it wasn't the original 5 tsp I thought, thank goodness!

So, if you don't have a poison control sticker on your phone like I do, at least write down the number and hang it near the phone. You never know when you might have to contact them with something crazy like your child drinking Purell! And thanks to the people who work the phones at Poison Control. You have at least one mom out there that is very greatful that you are there to take our frantic calls! And go ahead and start a file for our family- I have a feeling you'll hear from us again! (Hopefully not! But maybe! With our record- it's very probable!)

So Funny!

Kids say the darndest things! Just a little bit ago I was sitting on the floor with Bri and we were watching Caillou. For those of you who don't know Caillou is a show on PBS that is all about a four year old little boy and all of the adventures that he goes on. It's pretty cute but it gets really annoying when you have to watch it every day!

Anyway, we were watching Caillou and she was laying with her head on my belly. She sat up at one point and started shaking her hand in the air. The conversation went something like this:

Mommy: What's the matter?

Brianna: (Shakes her hand and looks at me.)

Mommy: What's wrong? Is your hand asleep?

Brianna: Yeah! (Shakes it again and laughs.)

Mommy: It will be okay!

Brianna: Yeah...(Shakes hand and then holds it up to my head.) Mommy, can you hear it snoring???? I hear it snoring! Listen!!! Can you hear it????

Isn't that funny!?!??! Oh she is such a nut! I lost it! I laughed until I was crying! And if that doesn't make you laugh just take a look at this picture. She was in the bathtub the other day and I went in to check on her. This is what I found:

If you can't tell...she's sucking on her big toe! What a crazy child I have! But she keeps me laughing and I am grateful for her everyday! Have a great week everyone!

What a Difference a Few Days Make

More pictures tonight of our new house! I can't believe what a difference a week has made. We broke ground last Friday and today when we went over to the site we found walls! The foundation is there. The floor has not been laid so it is still gravel but we can already see what it's going to look like which is very exciting. It also kind of scared us how small the basement looked because my mom will be living down there and we don't want her to feel like she's in a small, confined space. But we have seen this house completely finished (including the basement) so we know it's not that small, but right now it's kind of hard to believe! But we are sooo excited- have I mentioned that yet?!?!? So that's the update for this week....more photos of the house next week!

Isnt' it lovely?!?!?!? And they call NKU the concrete jungle!!!!!

This will be the kitchen and the walkout.

This will be the sitting area. Love the decore!

And for good measure-here's some pictures of the kids! We had gorgeous weather this week and they spent a lot of time playing out on the deck. Here they are playing with water, medicine droppers (which the used to squirt each other!) and bubbles! I love spring!

She looks drunk! I swear it was just water in those droppers :)

We Have a Hole!

We broke ground on the house last week! They started digging it out on Thursday and then it rained Friday and Saturday so the hole filled with water! We went over on Sunday to see how much they got done and it was almost done. This week the weather is supposed to be gorgeous so they were hoping to lay the footers, pour the foundation and begin to put walls up! I can't believe how fast they put these houses up but the faster the better...we can't wait! Here's some pictures that I took of our hole (and you'll still see water sitting in it in some places) My goal is to go over every Sunday afternoon and take pictures of the progress. Eventually all of these pictures will become a scrapbook but for now my blog will do the scrapping for me! If you want to see what it will look like when it's finished click here. This is the basement from the side of the house. This will eventually be my mom's living room.

This will eventually be the garage.

This will become the bathroom and a computer room for my mom.

There's Steven standing in what will be my mom's kitchen. In the far right hand of the picture you see another hole. That is a drainage ditch that sits at the back of our property. Where mom and Chris are walking is where the back patio will be. We hope to be able to tier the back yard to make room for a swingset, a garden and maybe one day a pool.

Okay, so I'm a little late today but it is Monday and time for another Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura over at Orgjunkie! If you've never checked this out you should wander over. There are usually close to 200 (sometimes more) people from all over the globe that post what they are eating this week! You can find some great recipes and it helps keep me focused and make sure I'm menu planning (which in turn helps keep the food costs down!) You'll notice that several of my recipes have links to the Kraft Foods website. If you have never tried any of their recipes you should give them a try! They are so good, so fast and so easy. Plus, they often use staples that are already in the pantry! Yeah! So without further ado, here's what we are eating this week!

Monday: quick taco salad This was so good and so easy! The romaine lettuce made it so crispy and tasted so fresh! If you are looking for a quick and easy light supper this is super!!!

Tuesday: Hawaiian Pork roast at mom's house!

Wednesday: oven-baked chicken parmesean, salad

Thursday: golden mushroom pork chops, baked potatoes, green beans

This is a super easy recipe that I do in the slow-cooker. You take boneless pork chops and put them in the slow cooker with a can (or 2 depending on how much gravy you want) of golden mushroom soup. I then layer on some sliced onion and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook it all day and by the time dinner rolls around pop some potatoes in the microwave. Serve the pork chops with potatoes and the soup as gravy. I love to put the gravy on the potato too! YUMMY!!! I also serve it with green beans to round it out! Enjoy!

Friday: sweet and sour chicken stir-fry

Saturday: egg salad sandwiches, fresh fruit salad

Sunday: Stouffer's chicken lasagna, salad