New Additions to the Family

Welcome to VGNO. I am a little late on the post tonight but we had a some new additions to the family today and I was seeing to them. Meet the new additions: Vanilla, Bubbles, Cookie, Tiger and Popcorn:
Here is the Mommy taking a much deserved break : Sweetie

Brookster came running in the house today and announced that she was now a Grandmother and that made me a Great Great Grandmother. She looked at my mom and said you really are old now because you are now a Great Great Great Grandmother. My mom just looked at her and said she was not that old. I said I did not think I was old enough to be a Great Grandmother, she looked at me and said " Well, I am only eight and I am a Grandmother. I think I am the only eight year old in the Whole ( holding arms way out here ) planet that is a grandmother." I said " I bet you are baby"

She is now wanting to bring all 5 in the house along with the mother. I said she could bring in the mother and maybe one of the kittens but there was no way that we could bring in all 5 kittens in the house. I told her we could find good homes for the rest. She asked if I had had more than one baby would I have given away the other 4 and just have kept her. She really knows how to work her mommy. Maybe I will have to try to work on my mom to keep one or two in her house. I will keep you posted on how many kittens end up in my house.

Wordless Wednesday- Spring

I love Spring!

What is MRSA?

This was a question until about a month ago I could not have answered. Then Brookster came home with a note that a child in the community had been diagnosed with MRSA.

MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a type of Staph bacteria found on the skin and in the nose that is resistant to antibiotics. More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly MRSA infections every year and in 2005, nearly 19,000 Americans died from MRSA infections. More deaths are linked to MRSA infections than AIDS.

There are two known types of MRSA. You may have heard of Healthcare-Associated (HA-MRSA), which occurs in hospitals and nursing homes, but a newer type of MRSA is Community-Associated (CA-MRSA), which has recently begun to spread in public settings like gyms, locker rooms, households and schools.

People can carry MRSA and not have any symptoms. These "carriers" can also transmit the bacteria to other people. MRSA can be easily spread through skin-to-skin contact and by touching contaminated items. This is why it is crucial to take measures to help reduce the spread of MRSA using these practical steps.

1. Scrub up - Wash hands frequently with soap and warm water for at least 15 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand rub sanitizer.
2. 
   Wipe it down - Use a disinfecting bleach solution to wipe down and disinfect hard surfaces. (1 tablespoon of disinfecting bleach diluted in 1 quart of water)
3. 
   Cover your cuts - Keep any nicks or wounds covered with a clean, dry bandage until healed.
4. 
   Keep to yourself - Do not share personal items, like towels or razors, that come into contact with bare skin.
5. 
   Use a barrier - Keep a towel or clothing between skin and shared equipment.

MRSA, like other staph bacteria, can cause a skin infection such as pimples, rashes, abscesses, boils or what can look like a spider bite. These infections are usually warm, painful, red or swollen.If you think that you or anyone in your family may have a MRSA infection, contact a licensed health care professional, especially if the infection is large, painful, warm to the touch, or does not heal by itself.For more information on MRSA and steps you can take to help reduce the spread of the bacteria, download our STOP MRSA Now Playbook here.

We live in a small town so when something happens to one the kids it like it happens to us. The little girl Kristin passed away a few weeks ago from MRSA. Her story is going to be on the Oprah show tomorrow. I chose to blog about this so everyone would be aware of the dangers of this infection and the symptoms. Please help me spread the word about this terrible infection. Thanks for helping me spread the word. If you have a chance watch the Oprah Show tomorrow to learn about this infection and some other infections as well.

Hug your kids a little extra tonight. I know I do because you never know what could happen.

Wonderful Spring Day

Today was the most beautiful day of the year here and what do you think we did????? I bet you have guessed by now. Yes we went to the golf course. I have a feeling that this is where I will be spending most of my time.

My dad got her started playing golf when she was 2. He always wanted her to play and I have tried to keep her playing. She is now taking lessons. She states that she would rather play golf then do anything else. Her coach told her that she gets to play with the high school girls this summer. You would that she had won the lottery. LOL She informed me today that she had to go get some new clothes and hats to match so she will look like the big girls. I just hope the big girls are ready to deal with an eight year old. I will keep you informed how that goes.

As long as she is having fun I am all for it. I grew up on the golf course as well but I did not have the love for it like she does. She has a calender and is counting the days down until school is out and she gets to play golf during the week. I hope I can hold out for this. This is also the reason that I have decided to be a SAHM. I do not want to miss a minute in her life. She is such an important part of my life that I was feeling like I was missing the big part of her life. Someone asked her today what she was going to do when she got older. She stated she was going to go to college, play golf and makes lots of money. Who knows maybe we have the next pro LPGA golfers on our hands. It does not matter to me I just want her to have fun and enjoy these times.

I think I am writing all over the place tonight and I am sorry but as a side note I forgot the sunscreen today and luckily she did not burn but I did. It is hurting so bad. Oh, well I am going t make a CVS run tomorrow for some sunscreen. I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy your kids.

Fishful Thinking

I went to the mailbox today and there was a box from Mr. Youth. I had no idea what was in the box. I was pleasantly surprised when I found this in the box:



It is from the Fishful Thinking Ambassador program. Fishful thinking is great program and I am lucky enough to be one of the Ambassador. Brookster loves to play the games on the website. If you are wanting to know more about the program please just click the Fishful Thinking banner on the right side of my blog. They have some great activites that you can do with the program. If you have any questions about the program please leave me a comment and I will be glad to help you any way I can.

Kids can be gross sometimes

Sometimes Brookster amazes me. Today was one of those days. We were getting her lunch ready for tomorrow. She takes Jello or Pudding everyday and to save money I send one of my spoons with her. I was packing her lunch and put a clean spoon in her lunch box. She took the old spoon and licked it really good. I did not know what she was doing it seemed gross to me to be licking on a spoon that had been in her luncbox all day. That was not the gross part. She then went to the drawer where I keep the sliverware and started to put the spoon she had just licked in the drawer. I asked her what she was doing and she said she had cleaned it and was puting it away. I have to go now and put all of my silverware in the dishwasher to get them all clean. I will never figure out how an eight year old minds work.

Clifford Goes Big in the Community

BE BIG IN YOUR COMMUNITY!
Scholastic Inc. has launched ÒThe Be Big in Your Community ContestÓ in support of CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG¨ and the BE BIGª initiative. The contest calls upon kids, parents, teachers, and community leaders to submit their BIG ideas for creating positive change in their communities by demonstrating CliffordÕs Big Ideas; Share, Play Fair, Have Respect, Work Together, Be Responsible, Be A Good Friend, Help Others, Be Truthful, Be Kind and Believe In Yourself. The BE BIG Fund will help bring the winning BIG idea to life by awarding one (1) Grand Prize $25,000 community grant and ten (10) runner-up $2,500 community grants to implement the winning BIG ideas via HandsOn Network local affiliate organizations. Submit your idea at www.scholastic.com/cliffordbebig <http://www.scholastic.com/cliffordbebig> and remember....IT ONLY TAKES A LITTLE TO BE BIG!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Contest starts April 20, 2009 and ends on June 26, 2009.