Yard Sales and Emergency Rooms...

We have been planning a yard sale for couple weekends now. Last weekend I was too sick to do much other than lie in bed. This weekend started off quite rainy. 

We were blessed with some sun this morning and were getting our yard sale set up. My husband wanted to put his weight bench out for sale, so he put that out. My kids had quite the fascination with it. They all wanted to be tough guys! Well, we kept telling them to leave the bench alone, that it could hurt them, but they didn't listen. Well, at least not until their two year old brother decided to mess with it too... he ended up with a broken, fractured, and mushed thumb. :(

I can handle a lot... most injuries are not a big deal to me.... I've seen some pretty bad ones. This one was different. Nolyn's thumb swelled so much that I thought it was going to burst, and it looked like he was pouring blood out of his thumb like a watering can does water. It was everywhere. 

We quickly poured some water on it and bandaged it and he was off to the hospital with his Daddy.

This is what it looks like 10 hours later... ( much, much better than this morning):

 

The doctors said he would have to have surgery to really do everything they needed to do, but that they didn't recommend it because of his age. He will likely never have a nail on his thumb again because of the damage to his nail bed. For now, all we can do is change the bandages, keep it in a splint, and follow up as soon as the nail falls off to see if they can try to repair the nail bed. 

It was hard to believe how quickly it swelled this morning, it was really scary! My husband told me Nolyn broke his thumb, and has a fracture near the knuckle, which is why it swelled so much. Poor little Boog! 

Other than that, the yard sale was pretty uneventful. Only a handful of people came (and we are thankful for each one!). It was a hot, sunny day up until about 4:30 pm or so...then a dark cloud loomed in the distance. My husband told me to check the weather...'no real chance of rain', I told him. Within minutes it was pouring and we were scurrying around covering and moving things. Hoping for a busier day tomorrow and no rain- we need this stuff gone!

What kind of ouchies have your kids (or yourself) gotten? Do you handle blood/injuries well, or do they make you a little flustered? 

Sunday Funny- Lucky Wives in 2000

They're Making Me CRAZY!

No, not my kids.....(well, at least not currently)...

INDIAN MEAL MOTHS

We have an African Grey (a parrot).... I purchase our bird food in bulk (it's cheaper...well, maybe not).

A few months ago I had unknowingly purchased some bird food that was infested with Indian Meal Moths. I started to notice these pesky moths fluttering around....

Image via Wikipedia

At first I didn't think much of it... figured it was because the kids left the door open or something. Then one day I go to feed Mac (our parrot) and one of these things flew out. Hmm....well how did it get in there? 

So I took a closer look. BLECH. Larvae, lots and lots of Larvae all webby and crawling in the bird food. 

Well, my husband quickly disposed of the rancid bird food....but our battle continues with these pests!

Now, anyone who knows me in real life knows I am not an animal killer, I even tolerate insects in my home for the most part....but these were ruining my food. 

Little did I know, these moths can chew through packages to get to your unopened food and lay up to 400 eggs at a time. Well, let's say by the time I figured out how big of an issue this was we had some serious problems. I was now seeing larvae crawling on my kitchen ceiling (BLECH, again) and moths were everywhere. 

"The entire life cycle of this species may take 30 to 300 days. Female moths lay between 60 and 400 eggs on a food surface, which are ordinarily smaller than 0.5 mm and not sticky. The eggs hatch in 2 to 14 days. The larval stage lasts from 2 to 41 weeks, depending on the temperature" (Wiki)

So what are we doing? 

Well... we tossed out ALL our grain products. That is a big deal! Since we are a large family I buy in large quantities.... we tossed out soooo much food, it was very depressing. 

We keep our vacuum in our kitchen.  Yes, you read that right. Every time I go into the kitchen I vacuum up any moths and/or larvae I see. There was one point where I was vacuuming 100+ moths a day! I am glad to say I know only see about 10 a day...but still... I WANT THEM GONE!

These things seem impossible to kill... and they can get anywhere! 

We had contact paper in our cabinets (from an old resident of our home)... the moths got UNDER the contact paper and laid eggs! My husband had to rip it out and kill them! GROSS. 

These moths can chew through nearly anything, they can get into sealed containers (even Tupperware like containers) and unopened food! 

I seriously feel like I am fighting a losing battle with these darn things! They are driving me crazy... I have a hard time even eatting in my own home because I am always worried that these things have gotten to my food. 

*Sigh*. I don't want to lose my mind....what am I to do? Have you fought these evil villains? If so, will there be an end to this disgusting treachery of nature? 

So you want to support Breast Cancer Awareness....

Or anything else for that matter....

Do you really think posting an odd status on Facebook is going to help?

Okay, it might, as in there will be people upset (like me) and post about the real cause, but the status itself isn't going to do much.

I posted something to my personal Facebook page tonight (and my Blog's Facebook page, too) about the recent Facebook "Breast Cancer Awareness" viral message that is going around. These posts received some pretty varied responses.

Some people thought the games were a fun way to get people interested, others were hurt, and some people were annoyed. 

Now, before I get into this subject, let me say,

I am in NO way against supporting ANY Cancer Awareness! 

Okay, thanks for listening to that part. 

I am appalled at this new game that is being played. Women message other women and tell them to post a certain status so that we can raise awareness.... here is the message:

Ok pretty ladies, it's that time of year again, in support of breast cancer awareness!! Remember last year so many people took part that it made national news and, the constant updating of status reminded everyone why we're doing this and helped raise awareness!! Do NOT tell any males what the status' mean, keep them guessing!! And please copy and paste (in a message )this to all your female friends to see if we can make a bigger fuss this year than last year!!! I did my part... now YOUR turn!

The idea is to choose the month you were born and the day you were born. Pass this on to the girls only and lets see how far it reaches around. The last one about the bra went round allovr the world. So you'll write... I'm (your birth month) weeks and I'm craving (your birth date)!!! as your status.

Example: Feb 14th= I'm 2 weeks and craving Chocolate mints!!

January-1week
Febuary-2weeks
March-3weeks
April-4weeks
May-6weeks
June-8weeks
July-10weeks
August-12weeks
September-13weeks
October-14weeks
November-16weeks
December-18weeks

Days of the month: 1-Skittles 2-Starburst 3-Kit-Kat 4-M&M's 5-Galaxy 6-Crunchie 7-Dairy Milk 8-Lollipop 9-Peanut Butter Cups 10-Meat Balls 11-Twizzlers 12-Bubble Gum 13-Hershey's Kisses 14-Chocolate Mints 15-Twix 16-Resse's Fastbreak 17-Fudge 18-Cherry Jello 19-Milkyway 20-Pickels 21-Creme Eggs 22-Skittles 23-Gummy Bears 24-Gummy Worms 25-Strawberry Pop Tarts 26-Starburst 27-Mini Eggs 28-Kit-Kat Chunkie 29-Double Chocolate Chip Chrunchy Cookies 30-Smarties 31-Chocolate Cake.

This particular game isn't as innocent as other games I have seen. I have seen the "Post your shoe size then 'inches' :( after" status, the "I like it "where ever your purse goes"" status, and the infamous bra color status. 

The current Facebook status game can cause people pain. Sure, I might be over doing this, and I am sure for the majority of people it is just a fun game, but what about the mothers who read these status updates and think they are going to be a grandmom (or the dads, who aren't included in this "secret")! 

Or even worse. What about all the young women who have had breast cancer and now are sterile because of the treatment.... they get to see these status updates that are supposed to support their cause, but are also playing on a pregnancy they will never get to experience.

Now, I will not ever say I am perfect, as I am not. But I would really like others to think about this game, and I would like to dare you all to start spreading around a new kind of email message.... one that helps us all support Breast Cancer Awareness.

Did you know that MEN can get breast cancer, too? Yes, they can. While Breast Cancer is much more common in women, is awareness something we should really keep from the men when it concerns them as well? 

Anyhow... before this becomes terribly long, why don't we all try posting some facts about Breast Cancer as our status, or share great links that help fund mammograms for women in need. There are plenty of true statements that can get just as much shock value as these silly games.

What does this sticker on my shoe mean??

So, since I was back-to-school cloths shopping for the little ones ALL DAY LONG this is a late night post...but  hopefully it will get to those who will find it informative.

I'm not sure if most schools require children to have so many pairs of shoes, but my kids' school require kids to have a pair of gym shoes, inside shoes and outside/recess shoes (or boots in the winter). The gym shoes MUST have non-marking soles. 

So, on my quest to find shoes with non-marking soles, I found that A.) Not all shoes say "non-marking sole"- even if they have a non-marking sole,  and B.) these stickers that were on nearly all the shoes I looked at. 

Here is the sticker I am speaking of....

Let me tell you now...this sticker has nothing to do with whether or not the sole is non-marking. This sticker tells you what the shoe is made of. It took me a good 45 minutes of internet searching to find this out. Searching "shoe sticker" does not get you anywhere, nor does "sticker on shoe", or " sole diamond", or any of the other odd combinations I tried. I finally put in the entire question, "What does the sticker on the bottom of my shoe mean" to find the answer.  Well... according to What A Pair (Sorry, this link doesn't work anymore), this is what those symbols mean....

The top picture on the left with the arrow pointing to the upper of the shoe is telling you what the upper is made of, in this shoe's case coated leather (the first symbol), and "other materials" (the white diamond). 

The second picture on the left hand side of the sticker is showing what the lining and sock is made of. In this shoe, the lining and sock  is made of textile, or fabrics.

The third picture on the left with the arrow pointing to the sole is for the outer sole. The white diamond means the same as in the top right hand diamond... "other materials". 

Sooo.... why the info? Well, people like to know what they are getting, and some people really need to know this info. Vegans can use this information to help them purchase shoes that do not harm animals. The textile picture and white diamond both represent materials that are Vegan Friendly (contain no animal parts, such as leather). 

Leather: This is the hide or skin from an animal that has been put through a process called tanning. There are many types of leather and that is an educational page all in itself.

Coated Leather: This is one of the processes of treating leather; basically the leather is coated with one of a variety of products for the desired look.

Coated Leather: This is one of the processes of treating leather; basically the leather is coated with one of a variety of products for the desired look.

Textile: This means fabric, the list is endless. This is one of the symbols the vegans, vegetarians and eco-friendly consumers look for because it means all natural or man made materials are used for the construction.

Other Materials: This is still man-made materials just a little different because these materials usually refer to the sole of the shoe. The most common of these materials are Thermoplastic Rubber, PVC, Rubber Compounds, Crepe, and Composition. All of these materials are friendly for the Vegan, Vegetarian and Eco-Friendly consumer.

In other news... the shoe that was in question (in the above picture)-Sketchers Grenadier- has a non-marking sole according to the Sketchers' website.