Milo's Spring Haircut

Spring is Back!

We have had two beautiful days in a row, sunny and close to 80 degrees. Older son has been sick, but is now feeling a little better. I ended up driving him to work one day last week and waiting for him. He was a little dizzy and didn't want to drive. He was running a fever, but his job is not great about taking sick days. He did miss school a couple of days and slept in. I am glad he is off the weekend. Along with older son being sick we are still having problems with younger son's eyes. We have been back and forth to the eye doctor since January. The infection has cleared up again, but when he went for his recheck this week he had something embedded in his eye now. She took it out and he is on antibiotic drops along with the other stuff he has been on. I hope when we go back Tuesday he will be all healed and no infection. The infection keeps coming back, so I am sure we will be going back for awhile just to make sure it stays away. In the mean time he also broke his glasses. He hasn't done that in the 7 or 8 years he has had glasses. Luckily they are under warranty.

Milo had his vet appointment yesterday. He is fine. Twice a year he goes in for the day and gets his shots and they do an exam and blood work. So I took him to the groomers before his appointment so he is clean and healthy :) He slept the rest of the day and is still sleeping today. Along with shots we had a tracking chip implanted in case he gets lost. He had a lot done to him, so he is exhausted now.

Well, I did it! I went with my sister last week and put a deposit on a cruise for next May for me and the kids. We are so excited! Then I went with my best friend from high school and we booked a Wednesday to Sunday trip to Disney world with both our families! The kids and I have only had one vacation since they were born and it was thanks to my sister's father in law. In 2001 he booked a cruise for his whole family and his one son backed out, so the kids and I were able to go for free. It was the greatest trip with my sister and her family. The kids always thought of him as their grandfather. He was one of the nicest men. I think younger son really believe he was his grandfather. We never though we would ever be able to go again. With the events that have happened the last year and a half, I just said forget it the kids and I are going to travel and make some good memories before they leave home. I figure I have the rest of my life to be poor! Younger son and I are even talking about going on a trip in 2009 before he get to college and starts working. We will see if the charges are paid by then :) I am sure I will write more about the planing as we get closer.

So that has been our excitement the last few days. I love planing things, so it will keep my mind busy for awhile now. One of the fun things will be taking our flat travelers with us! I will have to e-mail our England friends and see if they want to come with too! We have to get passports this time, so we should make passports for our travelers too! It is nice to have some happy excitement back.

Product Recall-Listerine Agent Cool Blue Plaque Detecting Rinse

Younger son happens to have used this a few times so I though I would post the recall here just in case someone else is using this product. I copied it directly from their site. Luckily younger son lost interest in seeing blue teeth after two or three uses.

Consumer Statement
McNEIL-PPC, Inc. has announced a voluntary nationwide consumer recall of all lots of the GLACIER MINT™ and BUBBLE BLAST™ flavors of LISTERINE® AGENT COOL BLUE™ Plaque-Detecting Rinse after the Company determined that the preservative system is not adequate against certain microorganisms. McNEIL-PPC, Inc. has been in full communication with the FDA regarding this issue and the decision to implement a voluntary recall. For further detail, please see complete press release.

FAQ
How can I tell if I have purchased affected product?

All lots of AGENT COOL BLUE™ Plaque-Detecting Rinse are being recalled. Consumers can readily distinguish this product by the cartoon character on the front of the bottle.

What should I do with the product I purchased?

Consumers should discontinue using any bottle of AGENT COOL BLUE™ Plaque-Detecting Rinse & properly dispose of the product.

How do I get a refund?

Consumers may obtain a full refund through calling the toll free consumer line at McNEIL-PPC, Inc., 1-888-222-0249, or click here to print the form necessary to mail-in to secure refund.

My child has been using this product. Should I be concerned?

McNEIL-PPC, Inc. conducted a thorough assessment and concluded that the risk of illness in healthy individuals following use of this product is very low. However, there could be a significant health risk to individuals with weakened or suppressed immune systems. To date, there have been no consumer adverse health events reported that are related to this issue. If you have further concerns, please consult your healthcare professional.

Have any other LISTERINE® products been affected?

Only AGENT COOL BLUE™ Plaque-Detecting Rinse products are affected by this action. Consumers can readily distinguish this product by the cartoon character on the front of the bottle. No other LISTERINE® branded products are affected and they remain safe and effective for use as directed.

Have other countries been impacted or just the U.S.?

The Caribbean: Specifically Puerto Rico, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Netherlands Antilles, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad
I have additional questions. Where can I go for more information?
Please call the toll free consumer line at McNEIL-PPC, Inc., 1-888-222-0249.

First Friday the 13th of the Year!

About a week ago our weather started getting cold again. Before that we were in the upper 70 a few days. Well when it cooled off again we ended up with about a inch of snow in between the hail and ice. So out came the warmer coats again. It felt really cold after the 70 degree days. Today I walked out with my coat on and we have grass back and it is definitely warmer and sunny again! Gotta love living in Chicago!

Today younger son and I did his California Achievement testing. Well actually he did it and I timed him :) We are both glad to be done. I am going to look them over and mail them out tomorrow. Now that we have been homeschooling for so long I realize how little I paid attention in school! If I go back to college in the next couple of years, I will only pass the entrance exam because of homeschooling. It is amazing how little we retain from our school years. Maybe Kevin and I will take the entrance together in two or three years. We can study together and I may just have to copy off of his paper :) I hope spelling won't count!

It's been really quiet here this week. Both kids have been under the weather. Older son missed a day of school. He only had one class that day. He is still going to work, but both of them have been laying around watching too much TV. Younger son feels better today, so we will be getting back to normal.

Today is Friday the 13Th. I may have to go and buy a lottery ticket today since I haven't won on any other day :)

Easter Blessing to You All!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Easter. We got up very early this morning. Older son had to be at church by 5:30. He played his trombone for 4 services today. Younger son and I went to the 8am service. Younger son and I stopped home after to let the dog out and load up the car to go to my sister's house for Easter dinner. Jason met us there after the last service was over at church. We were also celebrating my niece and sister's birthday. As usual we had lots of left over food! My niece made two bunny cakes with faces and ears. They were so cute.

My sisters family and my family are planning a vacation together next year, so we always have fun talking a little about that. The dates for travel come out in the next few weeks so we will be able to get a better idea of when we are going. I actually took the first picture today that will start out a photo album of our trip together :) I took a picture of my niece and sister looking on line for dates for our trip.

Milo was sure happy to see us when we came home tonight until we put the bunny ears on him! We did manage a picture or two. He was so happy to see us he wore himself out running between us and is now back sleeping.

Last weekend was younger son's confirmation. We had a great day. The service was in the early afternoon. There were 70 kids in his class! The church was packed. We had 15 people with us. They asked us all to keep it to ten, but we were a little over. The service was very nice. The pastor read a bible verse that each child picked as he blessed them. After each child came up for a blessing, they all came up in a group to have The Lords Supper for the first time. The only part that was a little disappointing was that families did not get to commune with their kids. There were just too many people. The whole service was about and hour and a half. Afterwards we took a couple of pictures with the family and the pastor. We all headed over to a local restaurant. I was able to get a room for us to have a party. The staff and service was great. After everyone was there and I had a little presentation of younger son's 8Th grade diploma. We ate, had cake, and visited with friends and family. I am so happy we had it out. Our place is way too small for 23 people! Older son graduates this December from college and we are just doing a little dinner with immediate family. In our family it is tradition that the 8Th grade graduation/confirmation is the big party.

Our big announcement is that younger son has decided to stay homeschooled for high school! I am pretty happy about that, but I would have been flexible if the decision went the other way. I gave him the decision as I did my older son. We are planning to add a consumer math type course to his other studies. I think he may need that more then the algebra that is part of his regular curriculum. We are also trying Spanish again. I have all the stuff and three workbooks, so we are REALLY going to try and stick with it. Younger son did sign language for a few years. We have a great program for that, but it is like anything else if you don't use it you lose it. I am sure he could take it up again and some of it would come back.

Older son has decided to continue on to a four year college after he graduates in December with a two year degree in Criminal Justice. He is going to take the Spring and Summer off and start the following Fall. He wants to work two jobs for the 9 months to help pay for some of the schooling so he doesn't have as many student loans. He his lucky that he is a manager at UPS. They pay up to $4000.00 a year for the managers to go to school. So he will have student loans, but so far will come out with his 2 year degree debt free. He can't apply to the police academy until he is almost 21. Since he is still only 18, I am glad he decided on two more years of education.

Tuesday Milo gets to go back to doggie school :) Younger son enjoys doing it with him and he could use the exposure to other people and dogs. Milo was an abused dog and except for me, the kids and a very few select people he isn't very friendly. It did surprise us because when we found him in the pound, we took him outside and sat with him. He climbed right into Younger son's lap and stayed there. Since the dog was really more for younger son when we were going through so many problems, we had to take the one that picked younger son to love. Now that we all love him, we are trying to make him more social so he isn't so afraid or aggressive with other people.

Well, this has been a rather long update. Now that the computer is running better it doesn't take me as long to download sites or pictures. We had the cable repair guy out here for an hour Saturday. The problem was in our lines. He said before he fixed it we were running at 1 something, when he left we were at 6 something. As you can tell computer terminology is not my strong point! But we are definitely running a lot quicker!

Have a great night!

Happy Easter!

My Two Boys Easter

Flowers

Younger Son's Confirmation

The Kids and I at Younger Son's Confirmation