Double The Blessings

Big Kid School

2011-08-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

My kids start school in less than two weeks. Big kid school. Actually, elementary school, but they started calling it "Big Kid School" back in May and haven't yet been convinced that elementary is the appropriate name.

My kids will be riding a school bus. They got to ride one for field trips when they were in VPK, and they loved it. But now they'll be riding one almost every single day, to and from school. They're in heaven.

Last night their school held an informal ice cream social, so that new families and those with kindergarten kids would be able to tour through the school and meet some of the staff. It was very nice...the kids had gone on a tour on a field trip in VPK, but they really got excited even more this time around. And of course, the ice cream didn't hurt, either! I was very excited to see about a dozen familiar faces...with any luck, some of those kids will be in Megan or Jeremy's class.

Yes, Megan and Jeremy will be in separate classes this year. I had hoped to keep them together, but I have been talking to a lot of teacher friends lately and the general consensus was that separating them now would be a big benefit for them and for their teachers. I called the school at the beginning of this week and requested the switch to different classrooms, so for the first time in forever, they will not be together for most of the day. They'll ride the bus together, and they might get to see each other at lunch or recess, but the rest of the time they'll be making their own friends in their own classes! I'm a wreck, but I know that it's only me being the typical protective mom when I feel like this is not right. I'll be fine after school begins and they get settled in.

But I can guarantee that I'll cry on the first day, even though I'm pretty sure they won't!

The "G" Word

2011-07-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

OK, so it's not a "BAD" word, but these days, gluten is not something I like to discuss. Three weeks ago I got the results back from my doctor, and he said I would need to be retested in three months...in the meantime, I am now on a gluten-free diet. Gluten. Of all things, this is what gives me issues? Really? The funny thing is that I didn't have textbook symptoms for gluten intolerance. The only reason I was even tested was because the month before that they diagnosed me with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and apparently gluten can be an issue for people with that sometimes (HT is an autoimmune disorder).

What I've learned in the last three weeks is that gluten is in just about everything. Well, not really, but it sure feels like it! Gluten is found in products made from wheat, barley or rye. It's in a lot of processed foods. I figured I'd really have trouble not being able to eat cookies, or brownies, or cake at birthday parties. But what I REALLY miss more than almost anything else is bread. Plain ol' sandwich bread, so I can have a PB&J sandwich (which before now was a traditional lunch item around here!). I've been eating lots of salad, and for anyone who really knows me, they understand that this is impressive...because I really don't like salad! I adore baked potatoes and they are my saving grace at lunchtime now. I celebrate when I find gluten-free items in the grocery store I think I can actually bring myself to eat. Fresh fruit's always a valid option! I'm even getting really good at reading labels. I've also made Betty Crocker's gluten-free cookies and brownies from the store-bought mix. They aren't bad, but they definitely aren't as good as the "real" thing, either. I told Steve the other day that I finally figured out what makes food taste so good...gluten!

It's not something I plan to bring up at parties. I actually went to a jewelry catalog party at my neighbor's house Thursday night...she was serving wine and a number of awesome goodies. Baklava was the one that really made me feel like crawling under a table and crying, but I am proud that over the last three weeks, I've been able to resist all things with gluten! For someone who has NEVER been on a real diet, I've actually surprised myself (and my mother, too, since she admitted the other day that she couldn't believe I'd made it this far). I was getting ready to come back home from the jewelry party and my neighbor said, "I didn't see you eat anything! Fix yourself a plate to take home!" and I had to politely explain that I couldn't have gluten. She felt bad, but I told her it wasn't necessary. I can stand to skip certain things, that's for sure. :)

The doctor told me something very important when he diagnosed me with HT and then mentioned the possibility of gluten issues. He also has HT, and celiac disease (which is what they will test me for when I go back to see him in September, based on my next round of test results). He said, "You can choose to manage this, or it can manage you." I think that was probably the best thing he could have said to me. I don't know if I could ever diet just for weight loss (though goodness knows I could use it). I really don't think I could do a "fad" diet either. But I know this is for the best, for my future and my health, and that really does make all the difference. My kids deserve to have two healthy, responsible parents. I am gluten-free...today is day 22...and I am learning that I am a lot stronger than I thought I was. Even though I still miss bread!

Catching Up...Again

2011-07-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

I have not blogged in almost three months!!! I don't have many followers, so I doubt the world has stood still since then, of course. :) But things have been quite crazy since April.

In May we had Mother's Day, Relay For Life, and the annual Gala for the Flagler Health Care Foundation. I take photos at the Gala each year and it's a "work" weekend for me and Steve, but we always have a lot of fun.

In June, the kids graduated from VPK. I was so proud...they had a really cute graduation ceremony in the multi-purpose room at their school, and they had a slideshow with pictures from throughout the school year. The kids sang songs and did a couple of skits, reciting the months of the year, days of the week, the alphabet and other fun little things. We left the very next day for a quick trip to Orlando, which was so much fun. I'll make a separate post sometime soon to show some fun pictures from that trip.

June feels like it flew by in a blur. I cannot believe we're already in JULY! We had a great time at the splash park with some friends on Sunday, and then yesterday was the 4th of July and we spent the evening with friends again...there's nothing that beats watching the fireworks show over the St. Augustine bayfront. Annual traditions are such wonderful things, and that's one of my favorites!

The kids begin Kindergarten next month (wow, that feels weird to type...for so long it's been "in August"). They are SO ready for it to start now, but I have to keep reminding them that it's summer and it's time to have fun and relax! Time flies way too quickly these days.

I'll close here with a pic from the fireworks trip last night. It's one of the few pictures of all four of us that we've had taken in recent months, and I'm so glad my friend Becky (Jeremy's godmother) was there to take it for me, since we so rarely get a decent picture of all four of us! :)

Relay For Life

2011-04-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

We are less than five weeks away from the Relay For Life of St. Augustine. I feel like it's been forever since I blogged about anything...probably because it kind of has been forever! :) But the Relay is something very important to me, so I thought I'd post a quick blog about why.

The Relay is the signature event for the American Cancer Society. Steve and I have been participating for more than 10 years now...this year makes 11. We started because the hospital where we worked had a team that participated, and we got hooked on how fun the event is. There are six different events held in St. Johns County, but we have always participated directly with the St. Augustine location (there's also Pedro Menendez, World Golf Village, Bartram Trail, Ponte Vedra and now Nocatee). Teams set up campsites around a track (ours is at St. Augustine High School) and from noon on a Saturday until 6 a.m. on Sunday, they participate in the wild and crazy activities. The main idea is to have someone walking laps on the track at all times during the 18 hours. Each campsite has a fundraiser or two (or five) planned. For example, this year we're selling tickets for a chance drawing and the winner will get a 32" flat-screen television.

At noon when the event kicks off, the first lap is walked by cancer survivors and their caregivers. It's so amazing to see how many people have been affected by cancer...too often we focus on the negative, counting those we have lost. We need the reminder that there are those who survive cancer and make every day count. They are the ones we celebrate! The most powerful realization I get every year when I watch that first lap is that cancer sees no boundaries...it affects the young, the old, men and women, people of all nationalities.

At 9 p.m. (for our Relay events, anyway...your mileage may vary), the luminaries that surround the track are lit. Each paper bag bears the name of someone who has survived cancer or someone who has been lost to cancer. The candles inside are lit and the lights on the track are dimmed. We walk in silence around the track, listening to the PA system while someone speaks the names of those recognized. Each year the list gets longer...it's a scary thing to realize that next year, more names will be added. But in the bleachers there are luminaries on one side of the track that spell out the word HOPE and on the other side spell out the word CURE. Because that's what we're there for...we hope for a cure so that one day cancer will not be such a threat.

Steve's grandfather had lung cancer. I don't know many of the details about what he went through. But my grandmother also had lung cancer. I was 13 when she was diagnosed, and I remember being so scared that she would die from it. She had drastic surgery and part of her lung was removed. She was in remission for years. She developed emphysema and eventually passed away due to complications. Cancer wasn't what killed her, but it compromised her system in a way that she couldn't recover fully. She also had several battles with skin cancer (partly due to the fact that she was a sun bather, and partly due to natural heredity). We write our grandparents' names on a luminary each every year and it gives me mixed feelings when it comes time to watch them be lit. But I know that we are doing our part to make sure that others might have a better chance when it comes to cancer.

There are a lot of technical details about Relay that I won't post here, because my main purpose is just to inform others about what Relay is and why we participate. Steve and I started Relaying each year in memory of our grandparents, but we have watched as friends and other acquaintances have gone through cancer battles of their own, or with their family members...it's devastating to realize how many people cancer affects. Our goal is that one day, Megan and Jeremy will not even have Relay each year, because a cure will be found. It's a lofty goal, but we pray for it each year!

If you'll be in the St. Augustine area the weekend of May 14-15, let me know...we'd love to have you stop by and visit our team's campsite. :) The more the merrier!!!

Six Weeks

2011-01-26T18:38:00.000-08:00

It's been almost six weeks since my last post...whoa. You don't realize how much time flies until you look at timestamps! :)

Things have been moving along quickly around here, and we're just doing the best we can to keep up. The kids and I are getting into a great routine with them in school. I've even started to get them more involved in things when we get home in the afternoons...they are now responsible for taking their snack boxes out of their backpacks and putting them on the kitchen counter, and putting their homework folders on the dining room table for me. Megan's new favorite thing to do is choose her snack for each day. Jeremy would be happy with goldfish crackers or fruit snacks every day of the week, but Megan has been closely watching her classmates and taking mental notes on what kind of variety they have. I do my best to get a few different things and then I've got to break out the reverse psychology every now and then ("Honey, I know you want a banana, but we don't have any. I guess you don't want these grapes since you had your heart set on a banana..." and then she jumps on the idea of grapes). It's such a minor issue that I don't mind it...it's actually kind of funny.

Two weeks ago the kids got to go on a field trip to the Alligator Farm. I went with them (of course!). My "big" camera was out of commission (the lens was in the shop), so I had to take my "little" camera instead. In keeping with my "then" and "now" photos, I thought I'd post this...the kids and I went to the Alligator Farm in February 2008, nearly three years ago, and the difference is pretty funny after three years!

Then...

Now...

Half a Decade!

2010-12-14T17:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Megan and Jeremy's FIFTH birthday. My kids are five. I cannot wrap my head around it...it's a great feeling, but there's a very small part of me that is sad because I know they're really out of their "baby" stage now. Half a decade of being a mom has taught me that they're ready to move on long before I am. But I'm proud of who they are. They're open and friendly. They're talkative. They love to laugh and smile. Sure, we have moments when I want to hide and pretend I don't know them (what mom doesn't? LOL)...but that's normal. It's part of the package!

At the end of the day, I know one thing. They are my kids, and I am proud, honored and blessed to be their mom.

Happy birthday, Megan and Jeremy!

"When I count my blessings, I count you twice!" -Irish Proverb

Giving Thanks - 2010 Edition

2010-11-26T14:51:00.001-08:00

Last year I was "challenged" to write something I'm thankful for every day in the month of November in preparation for Thanksgiving. In 2009, I didn't get started on the first day...I actually only found out about the challenge a little more than a week into the month. This year, I started the challenge again, but this time did so on the first of the month!!!

I posted something different each day on Facebook as my status update, and I kept track of them in a Word document to make posting on my blog a little easier. It was so fun this year...several friends who noticed my project started participating, too. And I had someone leave me a comment on my Facebook page that she looked forward to seeing my update each day because it helped to remind her of all the things she is thankful for in her life, too. We live in a world that is non-stop action, it seems like. Taking time to appreciate the little things is so refreshing! It's given me yet another reminder that it's the people, not necessarily the things, in life that make living so worthwhile.

Here's my list for 2010!

Day 1 of Counting My Blessings: I am thankful for my wonderful husband. Happiness really is being married to your best friend.

Day 2 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for Megan. She's older than her brother by less than a minute, but she never lets us forget that she's his big sister. There's always a smile on my face when she hugs me and tells me I'm her best friend. :)

Day 3 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for Jeremy. He is a resilient and fun little boy with a grin that melts my heart. When I tell him he's my favorite son, he responds that I'm his favorite mommy. That's my boy!!!

Day 4 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for our home. We've lived here almost nine years now...it's not fancy, or large, or "perfect." But it's not just a house either...it really is a HOME. I am thankful for a roof over our heads and a safe place to raise our children.

Day 5 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for my parents. They have always taught my brother and I to treat others the way we would like to be treated. They have given us unconditional love and devotion. It's amazing to watch my parents with their six grandchildren and know how lucky these kids are to have a Grammie and Grandpa who love them so much, too!

Day 6 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for the cooler weather (however long it may last!).

Day 7 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for family members who are like friends...and friends who are like family members. :)

Day 8 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for my children's VPK teachers. They have amazing amounts of patience and they make school "fun" for all of the kids in the class. Megan and Jeremy consistently come home with happy stories about the things they have learned, and I enjoy seeing how much they've grown in just a couple of months.

Day 9 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for my brother, Kris. We've been there for each other through thick and thin, and I have a lot of great memories from our childhood together. He's an awesome uncle to my kids, and he's given me a sister-in-law, two nieces and two nephews to love and adore, too!

Day 10 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for the gift of laughter. Whether it's because of a joke told by a friend, something silly the kids have said or done, or just the realization that I've done something silly myself, there really is no better medicine than laughter.

Day 11 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for all of our country's military men and women who have served or are currently serving. Freedom isn't free, but I'm so glad to live in the land of the free and the home of the BRAVE. Happy Veterans Day, everyone!

Day 12 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for my friend Wanda, because she had a medical emergency earlier this year and has made an amazing recovery. She's my "walkin', talkin' miracle friend," and I am so grateful for her. She's a fantastic wife, mother and friend, and I love every chance I get to hang out with her!

Day 13 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for things that remind me of my grandparents. They've been gone for a while now (14 years and 12 years), but every now and then something happens that brings great memories back for me. They were fantastic people and I miss them so much!

Day 14 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for the opportunity to celebrate with a friend who is welcoming her first baby next month. She has a lot of adventures ahead of her and I am so excited for her and her husband!

Day 15 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for my Flagler Hospital family. I left my job almost five years ago to stay home with the twins, but there are still so many happy, smiling faces and I feel like I am back "home" whenever I go there to visit. :)

Day 16 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful that something as simple and easy as pizza night with my family can make me so happy. :)

Day 17 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for the love of God, who knows what even our smallest hopes are and takes care of us. We may not always understand why things happen (or why other things don't happen), but there are reasons for everything.

Day 18 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for my health and the health of my family. We can handle the occasional cough or sniffle, or the minor backache or headache...there are so many others who are facing so much worse.

Day 19 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for the opportunity to spend time with a friend/dorm neighbor from college. It's been over 10 years since I've seen her, and I can't wait 'til she arrives this evening!

Day 20 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for a busy schedule, because it means I'm rarely bored (even though downtime is sometimes nice, too!).

Day 21 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for my camera and the many photos we've taken of the kids over the course of five years. They're turning five just three weeks from tomorrow and I have so much fun taking a walk down memory lane whenever I get a chance...I can't believe how fast time has flown!

Day 22 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for friends who call just to say hello. I can get so caught up in everyday responsibilities (like raising kids, work, errands, etc.) and it's nice to just hear a friendly voice!

Day 23 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for the crazy things the kids come up with...like Megan's "epiphany" that her teeth are kind of shaped like candy corn, or Jeremy's plan to be an astronaut who plays basketball in space. Life can be taken too seriously sometimes...they remind me to lighten up once in a while!

Day 24 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for the opportunity to work from home, because it's allowed me to stay home with my kids for the last (almost) five years. With Steve's schedule being so random (working every other weekend, switching from days to nights to days every two months), it's nice to be able to be home when he’s home, too!

Day 25 of Counting My Blessings: Today I am thankful for the opportunity to count my blessings for the last 24 days! I'm thankful for all my friends, for my family, and for the chance to get together with loved ones today for wonderful meals. I'm thankful that there are always blessings to be found, especially when you really start watching for them. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Halloween Spooktacular

2010-10-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

We spent a few hours at Sea World on Sunday! We have been longtime passport members, and Sea World is our favorite place to go when we want to get some uninterrupted family time in (especially since our schedule can be a little hectic at times!). This was our third year attending the park's Halloween Spooktacular event. There are candy stations scattered throughout the theme park, and costumed characters and fantastic decorations are around just about every corner. The kids love Sea World on ordinary days, but hunting for candy and treats is always an additional source of excitement for them.

I don't have time to post a whole lot about the day, but I wanted to post a few photos. If you have the opportunity to get there, the event continues Oct. 23, 24, 29, 30 and 31! Visit www.seaworldorlando.com for more information!

Megan and Jeremy at the entrance to the trick-or-treat path...

"Visiting" one of the whales in the observation tank behind Shamu Stadium. The kids have been known to tell people that they have a pet whale and that we go visit him at his house...

Megan and Jeremy with one of the garden fairy characters in the park. Notice the strained smiles? They don't look directly at the camera much...Steve says I "broke" them by taking so many pictures during their first few years... :)

Cooler Weather

2010-10-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

The temperatures have been staying at or just below 80 degrees the last few days...I LOVE it when the Florida temps begin to drop for the cooler season. In Florida, we don't have four seasons like everyone else. Steve and I like to joke that we have two seasons here...summer and summer-lite. The last few years when the kids have had their birthday party (in December), we've worn shorts. To me, Christmas just isn't the same when the temps are so high. I grew up visiting my grandparents in Canada for many Christmases, and eight feet of snow wasn't unusual for us...going to the Christmas Eve service at church without needing to wear a jacket just doesn't seem the same to me.

The only problem with the cooler weather at the moment is the fact that I want to open the windows, but we haven't checked all our screens yet. The mosquito population seems to have multiplied ten-fold in the last few days, so I'm trying very hard not to invite those little buggers into the house. Jeremy got bug bites all over his legs on a walk last week, and the poor kid looks like he's been attacked by vampires...red welts everywhere.

The kids have their first field trip on Friday, to a local pumpkin patch. It will be their first "real" ride on a school bus! I bought their field trip t-shirts today, and I think I'm just as excited as they are because I get to go as a chaperone. I'll have my camera with me, of course...don't think I could go on a field trip with them without one (and anyone who knows me would completely agree!).

School has been going well for them...they still have completely different attitudes when it comes to schoolwork. Megan comes home and immediately starts asking if she can do her homework. Jeremy kicks back and turns on the tv or dvd player and relaxes. Not sure if that's something we can attribute to the difference between boys and girls, but it's pretty funny to watch. I dropped them off at class this morning and neither one even noticed me once they got settled in at their worktables. Usually Megan hollers for me to come give her a hug and kiss before I leave, but today I didn't get that request. It's a great feeling because I know it means they're happy there, they're comfortable and not having problems. But at the same time, it's still an adjustment not having them need me just a little. Just proves that another interesting thing about being a parent is learning that sometimes you rely on your kids just as much if not more than they rely on you.

Time...

2010-09-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

No matter how much I try to keep my schedule organized (as if that's possible with two four-year-olds!), time just seems to fly. I can't believe how fast this past month has gone. My kids started school on August 23rd...and we're already 2/3 of the way through September! I haven't blogged since the kids started school...shame on me!

I've been working hard to change my organization patterns on my computer desk at home over the course of the last week. We'll see how long those changes last, but so far I like the fact that things are a little more streamlined. I bought a new planner/calendar so I can keep track of everything, from the kids' school schedule to my work schedule (even work-from-home moms need to schedule things carefully!), to Steve's work schedule and family commitments like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. We're not the "busiest" people in the world, but I'm pretty actively involved in several volunteer/charity functions, and those include meetings galore.

I'm going to adopt a chart my friend showed me a few years ago. I laughed (on the inside) when I first saw it, but I'm interested to see if it's something I can apply to my daily life. It involves targeting specific areas in the house so that you can do a few small tasks each day and at the end of the week there's very little to be done because you've been taking care of it already. For instance, clean the guest bathroom on Monday and Thursday. Vacuum on Tuesday and Friday. Clean the fridge the day before garbage day and take five minutes to clear out products that are expired, etc. This plan may work, it might not...but it's worth a shot, because I'm overwhelmed with my current pattern!

I would really like to set aside at least 20 or 30 minutes a week to sit and blog. I keep saying I'm going to do it, but then it slips by. I read friends' blogs when I have some downtime, and I really enjoy reading them.

The kids are loving school, and I have to say I'm finally adjusting to the pattern of dropping them off/picking them up. It's not always easy (three hours FLIES even faster than you might think!), but I'm learning to lay out their clothes the night before and pack their snacks the night before to help with our time management in the morning. If I could convince them to eat breakfast a little faster than snail's pace I'd be thrilled. They like to take their time with their cereal! We had some issues at first with Jeremy not wanting to cooperate with activity transition (moving from the blocks to the classwork activity was apparently not something he was thrilled about!), but now that he's getting into a routine it's going fairly well. For anyone who had doubts, I can certainly tell you that GIRLS and BOYS have completely different personalities when it comes to school. Megan has done extremely well adapting...Jeremy has had a rocky start, but is gradually coming around.

I'll have to write a separate post sometime soon about the black eye Jeremy got two weeks ago...he was running in the house right before bedtime and fell and smashed his eye on some furniture, and it was quite the event around here, to say the least. I have pictures of his shiner, and thankfully it wasn't a really severe injury, so we can look back in hindsight and chuckle about it a little.

Til next time!!!

First Day of School!!!

2010-08-23T22:03:00.000-07:00

The kids started VPK on Monday. It's technically 1 a.m. on Tuesday, but I wanted to post this before I go to bed. Other than a little whining (on my part...they didn't want to cooperate and let me take 800 photos!), I think the day went very well. I was pleasantly surprised that Steve was able to leave his zone for a very short time so he could be there to walk the kids in for the first time with me. My mom had come down from Jacksonville to go with me, since I thought I'd be on my own. So there were three of us trooping in behind Megan and Jeremy at 9:15 in the morning, and the kids made a beeline for their classroom. They learned its location at the open house on Saturday, and their friend Savannah is also in their class, so it's good to know there's already a familiar face there with them.

I left the school with my mom and Steve left to go back to work. Mom and I went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, and I couldn't help but feel strange to be there without the munchkins. The waitress we requested is the same one we try to get whenever we go there though...we met her five years ago, right around the time I was put on bedrest. Mom would sometimes sneak me to Cracker Barrel for a meal on the way home from a doctor's appointment, and she was always so sweet to us. It was kind of like coming full circle to go have breakfast there and visit with her. :0

We ran a few errands after breakfast and then went to pick the kids up again at 12:15. Jeremy was crying! We quickly learned he was upset because he wanted to stay at school and play on the playground longer. Hmmm. I'm proud to say he's the only one of us who cried though...I went tear-free all day. Surprisingly, since I figured I'd boo-hoo just a little!

I won't post the multitude of pics I originally wanted to, just the one of them with their backpacks on before we left the house. My babies are growing up!!!

A Playdate Gone Astray

2010-08-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

I completely failed to realize that my last post (which was in JUNE...wow, I am SO far behind in my pledge to keep up!) was my 100th post. I did nothing special for that post, but I'm very excited about #101. :) My blogger friend Alana over at http://alana-isms.blogspot.com/ and I planned a fun playdate for our kids (and for ourselves, as well!), and it was scheduled for yesterday. Neither one of us could have foreseen what would become of our "great" adventure. We worked together via e-mail after we got home to document the day and I am happy to present the whole story below. Read at your own risk!

Alana: It started with a wonderful plan. Katie had two free family passes for a really amazing indoor play center. We were stoked to see each other again, and were thrilled to have something air conditioned and fun to do, as the heat index here has surrounded us with temperatures feeling like 110 degrees. The plan was to meet at the mall at 9:30 a.m., in order to leave my car in the mall parking lot. Em and I would join Katie and her kiddos in their car to carpool to the play center. It was a sunny and beautiful day.

We arrived at the mall. Katie helped transfer Em's booster seat to the center of her car (which Em gets a kick out of, as she gets to sit BETWEEN Katie's 2 kiddos.) We buckled the kids in, popped a movie in the DVD player and Katie started the car.

Katie: So everyone's loaded in the car and we're ready to roll...fun times await! And I look down at the dashboard for some random reason. And my check engine light was on. Ugh. Between May and June I took my car into the shop a total of five (count 'em, FIVE) times because of the check engine light. The problem was fixed in the middle of June, but what could possibly be the issue now?

I looked at Alana and at first I said, "We can probably make it..." but then started thinking about it. If we got stranded 30 minutes away I would feel like a complete goof. Alana offered to follow me to the service shop, which is right down the street from the mall anyway. We could leave my car there for maintenance while we had our grand adventure, then pick my car back up on the way home later in the afternoon. Alana hopped back in her car, intending to follow me to the shop. Much to our surprise...

Alana: When I turned my key in the ignition, there was a clicking noise, but MY car would not start. My immediate thought was that something was wrong with the car battery. However, I was perplexed. As the car had been sitting idly for only 10 minutes, how could the battery have died? After a quick check of all gadgets (paying special attention to the interior dome light Emma sometimes plays with) indicated that nothing was amiss, I held my hands up in a "surrender" to Katie. How could we BOTH be having car problems at the same time? I proceeded to empty my trunk of the back-to-school crate and bags full of supplies, along with Emma's beach play-gear so that I could get out my jumper cables. Meanwhile, Katie sat in the car with three kiddos (Emma age 5 and twins Megan and Jeremy age 4) trying to entertain the kiddos and explain why we were sitting in a parking lot rather than going on the adventure we had promised. After clearing my trunk, I lifted the flap where my spare tire is stowed only to determine that the jumper cables and emergency kit my Dad purchased for me several years ago were not there. (Oops...I seem to remember moving them to the garage when I needed extra trunk space a while ago. Sorry Dad!) Doh! My thoughts of having Katie jump-start my car were dashed. Guess we'd have to move on to Plan C. Wait! What's Plan C?

Katie: Plan C? I was still trying to figure out why Plan B wasn't working out. I am a cop's wife, so you think I'd be smart enough to keep jumper cables in my car. Nope. I had taken them out a while back when we had the car in the shop for repairs. Oops.

We tried to find a mall security guard, then tried asking the maintenance people at Sears about how much a battery would cost for Alana's car. We wound up taking my car to the shop, since it was still in driving condition. They have a kids' playroom there, and we basically vegged out in the waiting room until the service rep came and told me (almost an hour later) that the check engine light was not caused by the same problem as before. It appeared to be the catalytic converter, which "lucky" (and I use this term loosely) for me is still covered under the warranty. Just one problem...the shop we were at used to be an official Saturn dealership, but Saturn went out of business early this year and the shop had become a used car lot with a maintenance bay. To get warranty repairs done, I'd have to take the car to a different dealership that was an "authorized maintenance location." But first, I had to pay $65 to the shop for the diagnostic fee. Ugh. Already out that much and haven't had any actual repair work done.

The bright side of this part of the story is that the service rep had checked into an issue with the rental car company down the street...they had rented a car for me for one day when my vehicle was being held overnight for service, and somehow the rental agency had charged my card twice the amount of a one-day rental when I wasn't supposed to be charged at all. The rep from the shop told me they had me listed as a three-day rental, not a one-day rental. We ran by the rental place after leaving the shop and Alana stayed in the car while I straightened that mess out. Yay for progress!

Alana: Two things to add before I forget. One: The guy working at the Sears car shop at the mall told me it would be "at least a four-hour wait" AND $120 - $140 to replace my car battery....NO WAY, buddy! Two: Cracked me up when Katie said her kids thought our "big surprise" (intended to be the indoor play center, of course) was just the small play area at the car shop. Are they sweeties, or what? Back to the story...

Next, we went back to the mall parking lot and met up with my AWESOME father-in-law, Craig, who had agreed via phone to come to my rescue. Katie kindly volunteered to take Emma with her and her kiddos to the car dealership so they could play together in the dealership playroom while she had the "check engine" light on her dashboard investigated.

This is where our story separates for a bit. Craig and I stayed in the parking area while I did my womanly best to hold his flashlight while he
dug through his tool bags trying to find the correct-size wrench to loosen the cover on my car battery. Katie and the kids...

Katie: After dropping Alana off with Craig, the kids and I made our way to the "authorized maintenance location." I had talked to one of the service reps there about four or five months ago when I was getting quotes on tires for my car, so I felt pretty good since I at least had a name. The kids and I unloaded and walked into the service department to explain our story. I brought juice boxes to distract them (which worked for about 30 seconds before my kids started harrassing the service rep and asking him where all the toys were). Long story short...the other service department had switched off the check engine light, clearing the error code, when they ran the diagnostic on my car. And this service place wouldn't even look at my car unless a) I had a check engine light on or b) I was willing to pay for another diagnostic, which wasn't even guaranteed to work since the error code had been cleared by the other guys. Even when the service rep who had helped me with tire pricing came to my rescue, it was obvious that they couldn't do anything to help. I decided to wait and see if the check engine light comes back on in the next week or so. Car maintenance is a necessary evil.

The kids and I piled back into the car and got on the road. We headed for Chick-fil-A near the mall because I figured it would be less crowded than another one close by (wow...I was so wrong). We ordered kids' meals (all four of us...because you get free ice cream if you trade your "toy" in at the counter without opening it) and settled in for our lunch. The kids ran around in the playground at the restaurant for a while, and when Alana called to say she was on her way with Craig we left the playground and went to get our ice cream so we would have a treat while they ate their lunch. It was probably about 2:30 when they got there...and I was anxious to hear how Alana's car was faring...

Alana: When Craig found the correct size wrench to undo the cap on my car battery, we discovered a lot of white/green corrosion. The Amazing Craigster was able to use a pocket knife and screwdriver to clean the majority of the corrosion off. We were then able to jump start my car. (By the way---the jumper cables Craig used were made by DH's Pappaw years ago. Cool, hey?) As with the jumper cables assistance my car started quickly, I was hopeful the battery had died due to age and corrosion, and we'd be able to replace it and my car would be fixed. However, as a precaution, Craig followed me to the mechanic to verify how much "juice" was left in the battery and to verify all was okay with my car.

After running a diagnostic test, the mechanic informed me that the battery appeared to be okay. It had most likely been drained due to the car needing a new alternator. Gulping at the $380 fee, but knowing it was necessary, I "approved" the work order.

Craig kindly drove me to meet Em, and the gang at Chick-fil-A in order to pick Emma up while my car was being repaired.

Katie: Alana and Craig got their lunches and sat with us so we could catch up. Megan and Jeremy took an instant shine to Craig, so now he's got two admirers. If I'd been thinking about it, I would have had a picture taken of the whole group of us to go with this blog post, but I wasn't exactly thinking clearly after such a long and drawn out day. We parted ways right around 3:30 to head home, and I felt pretty foolish driving home and wishing that my check engine light would click back on. It was definitely "the playdate that wasn't," but somehow we weren't too much worse for the wear, and the kids really enjoyed themselves and the time they spent with Emma. Although I feel pretty bad that Alana's car repairs were so expensive, since our intention for the day was to use the free passes I've been holding on to since June and then eat lunch at O'Charley's (since the kids' meals are free). It was such a great plan! We'll definitely have to attempt it on a different day. :)

Alana: Emma fell asleep in Craig's backseat as he drove us to pick up my car from the mechanic. Thus, I asked him if he would mind if I followed him to his house to allow Emma more "nap" time. He kindly agreed. I paid the mechanic, waved at Craig that my bill was taken care of, and walked to my car. Just as I saw Craig turn out of the parking lot, I tried turning the ignition on in my car. Guess what? It was the same clicking noise that had occurred at the mall. ACK! Though annoyed, I was relieved that if my car was not going to function, at least it "chose" to break at the car mechanic's.

I returned to the inside of the mechanic shop. The guy was aghast that the car wouldn't start. "We turned your car off and re-started it several times before calling you for pick-up." They had replaced the alternator, thinking that the battery would be fine with a new alternator. However, turns out the battery was also fried.

I called Craig...who I had inadvertently pawned Emma off on. He said I could just pick her up at his house whenever my car was done. $70 bucks (battery cost, no charge for labor) and 40 minutes later my car was finally "done."

What a day! Despite the financial and logistical burdens of my day, I had two HUGE blessings: Katie and Craig. Both stepped in, helping with my car woes and childcare without prior notice. I don't know what I would have done without them! And while car issues are always a hassle, I'm also grateful that the alternator/battery issues occurred during the summer instead of when I'm back to work in 2 weeks.

I have to smile at the odds....what is the likelihood of BOTH cars having issues at the exact same time? Katie reported that her check engine light did not come back on during her 20-minute drive home. As for me, I can't wait for our next playdate...maybe DH will let me borrow his car next time, just in case! :)

Katie: That's all we wrote, folks. Our adventure in hindsight was not exactly "fun" like we planned, but I was just grateful that we got to spend some time together. The kids got along really well, and all three were actually very, very good considering how boring it all must have seemed for them. Talk about counting our blessings!!!

Stop and Smell the Flowers

2010-06-15T23:04:00.003-07:00

It never fails. There are two things that my children insist on doing whenever we go to the local grocery store. First, we stop at the bakery, where they are practically on a first-name basis with the people who work there. Then, before I can even break out my grocery list to begin our shopping, we have to go over to the floral display. My kids consistently remind me to take time to stop and smell the flowers.

I don't know that many people who can claim to NOT be busy. I don't think I'm all that much busier than the average person. I have a family to care for, a job (or two) to keep up with. I have friends who I love to spend time with whenever possible. And I have volunteer activities that I enjoy because I treasure the satisfaction I feel when I help someone else. Sometimes my schedule is smooth, sometimes it's rocky. There are days when I have nothing planned...blissful days when I might choose to get an hour or two of work done just to make sure I have less to do later on my busier days. My kids are a great reminder that sometimes, just sometimes, it's alright to just stop and enjoy whatever peaceful moments I can grab. I am so lucky to have them, and their reminders are definitely priceless.

Yesterday, I was working on a project and my son came into my home office. He said nothing at first, just looked at the computer and stood quietly. I wrapped my arm around him and said, "What's up?" Very calmly, very quietly, he leaned toward me and said, "Mommy, come cuddle with me." The kids got twin-size beds a couple of months ago, and he's just thrilled with the fact that I can squeeze onto his bed with him, something I couldn't do when they were sleeping on toddler beds. We climbed onto his bed together, cuddled up, and pointed out "imaginary" shapes on the ceiling, a game he's come to love recently. It was a perfect moment in time, one I don't think I'll forget anytime soon.

If you're having a busy day, do yourself a big favor...stop for a moment. Take just a few minutes to stop and smell the flowers. Jeremy and Megan might not stay little forever, they might not always want to cuddle with their momma, but the memories we make today are ones we can carry with us for years to come.

Great Reminder

2010-05-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

Below is a column that appeared by Ann Landers. It was contributed by a reader who asked her to reprint it, and I think it SO applies to day-to-day life. Sometimes we just need a gentle reminder of what's so very important.

Ann Landers “Things to Be Thankful For”
Dear Ann Landers: I hope you will print something a friend in Australia sent me. I think it's perfect to run on Thanksgiving. -Bee in Fairfax, Va.
Dear Bee: Please send my best wishes and warm thanks to your friend in Australia. Here's the thoughtful piece she sent:

Things to Be Thankful For

Be thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means you have enough to eat.

Be thankful for the mess you clean up after a party, because it means you have been surrounded by friends.

Be thankful for the taxes you pay, because it means you're employed.

Be thankful that your lawn needs mowing and your windows need fixing, because it means you have a home.

Be thankful for your heating bill, because it means you are warm.

Be thankful for the laundry, because it means you have clothes to wear.

Be thankful for the space you find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means you can walk.

Be thankful for the lady who sings off-key behind you in church, because it means you can hear.

Be thankful when people complain about the government, because it means we have freedom of speech.

Be thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means you're alive.

~Taken from Ann Landers’ column, 11/22/01

Catching up on blessings...

2010-05-14T06:34:00.001-07:00

First blessing I want to mention is my friend. She was discharged from the rehab center and went home last Friday, so she's been home for a week already. I feel bad because I haven't been able to go by and visit yet, but I have plans in the works to bring her family some dinner one night next week, so I'll see her soon! I spoke with her for a while on Tuesday, and she sounds fantastic. Keep praying, because she's getting occupational and physical therapy at home and we want her to continue to recover, but what a blessing to know that she's home with her husband and children (exactly where she belongs!!!). I told her she's my walkin', talkin' miracle friend and she told me she knows just how lucky she is. She's amazing.

Second blessing is that the Relay For Life of St. Augustine is this weekend. This will be my 10th year attending the event, 9th year participating with a team, 7th year working as a member of the planning committee. My grandmother had lung cancer and skin cancer, so the cause (the American Cancer Society) is near and dear to my heart. The event itself is just inspiring, especially when they light the luminaria around the track at 9 p.m. in honor and in memory of people who have/have had cancer. This year we are one of 45 teams camping out around the track at St. Augustine High School. Each team has a different fundraiser to raise money with, and each team tries to keep someone walking on the track at all times during the 18-hour event. We've been working hard all year to get ready, and this week we've worked twice as hard because it's crunch time. It'll all be worth it tomorrow and Sunday! The event kicks off at 12 noon Saturday, May 15 and ends at 6 a.m. on Sunday, May 16. If you're in the St. Augustine area, stop by and see what it's all about...it's something you have to see to believe.

My Friend is a Miracle!

2010-05-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

I read a post from my friend's husband on Facebook this morning...looks like she'll be discharged from the rehab center on Friday, May 7th! She's still got a long road ahead of her, but she has made so much progress and we are all standing in awe of the miracle she really is. I cannot express enough thanks to everyone who has continued to pray for her and her family. I know she is so touched and inspired by the crowd that has rallied behind her since this all started two months ago. Yesterday a group of awesome people coordinated a yard sale. I couldn't be there to help, but I contributed a couple of boxes of "stuff." Another friend wrote a newspaper article that ran locally the day before, and they had an amazing turnout from the community, raising over $1,000 to help offset some of the family's expenses. The amazing part of this whole thing is not that they raised so much money, but that so many people turned up to help make a difference in the life of an awesome woman and her family.

God is good.

I Give A Hoot...About Molly!

2010-04-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

I had posted a link a while back with the live video stream focused on two bald eagles and their two babies. On the same site, there are numerous links to wildlife webcams. One of them is for Molly the Owl, who has become quite famous! Molly and her mate, McGee, are residents of an owl box in California. The box is on a pole 15 feet in the air and stationed in the yard of the Royal family. Carlos updates viewers from time to time on the little family. Molly and McGee had six eggs laid in February. One broke very early, one is a dud. The other four eggs have yielded four little owlets! Max, Pattison, Austin and Wesley are named for relatives of Carlos Royal (grandchildren, I believe).

Here's a closeup photo I took as a screenshot of Molly...she was checking out the camera just a little while ago. The video link is also below. Share it if you'd like...it's so amazing to see nature at work! Word to the wise though...these are wild animals. They eat like wild animals. Sometimes it's not a pretty sight, so be forewarned if you are watching at mealtime and you have a weak stomach.

Free video streaming by Ustream

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T08:22:00.001-07:00

I can't believe we're already into our first week of April. It looks like 2010 is flying by even faster than 2009 did!!! I wish all of you the best blessings of Easter.

My friend continues to improve. She has been transferred to a rehabilitation center where she will receive all kinds of physical therapy to help her recover further. I plan to go visit her for an hour this afternoon, between visiting my family and my husband's family. I look forward to seeing how much progress she's made since my visit last week when she was still at the hospital! She is having short-term memory issues that may or may not improve with time, so please continue praying for her and her family.

Count your blessings today and every day!!! Happy Easter. :)

Bald Eagle WebCam

2010-03-27T22:26:00.000-07:00

A friend recently shared this site and I thought I'd pass it on in case anyone else wanted to see it, too! I'm looking forward to watching this bald eagle family thrive. What a patient momma!

http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Bald_Eagle_Nest_Cam_P0SF.html

Streaming live video by Ustream

Saturday is "Catch-Up" Day!

2010-03-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

The week seemed to fly by...guess that happens when you have work pile up on you. The good news is that we made our deadline, and it's always a nice feeling to have a project finish on a Friday so that the weekend is open. :)

My friend is steadily improving, and we continue to pray and count our blessings for her and her family. I am really looking forward to visiting her again, hopefully Sunday morning. I know the road ahead is a long one, but I think they have such a fantastic support system and group of cheerleaders to encourage and help. It'll all be ok! Here are updates from her husband about yesterday and today's events...I am consistently in awe of his strength through this whole process (and by hers...such a great match!).

FRIDAY's UPDATES
11:17am: Another exhausting day of therapy. Brain drain will likely come out tomorrow. She continues to not be exactly herself but improves. She tends to act a little childish and unemotional. Daughter knows she is in hospital and is starting to want to see her. I am going to wait till we are out of ICU. I'll update again later.

9:45pm: The feeding tube is out of her nose. She is a lot more comfortable. She has really enjoyed the milkshakes everyone has brought her. The brain drain may come out tomorrow. Possibly real food on monday. We had a battle with physical therapy today. She won but I am sure PT will win the war. She was happy to have visitors today. Everyone is welcome. Good night.

SATURDAY's UPDATES
8:08am: Pretty good night sleep. CT this morning will determine if the brain drain comes out. Her surgeon returns Monday. Can't wait for him to see her progress. Round #2 with therapy today. Her 1, Therapy 0. Doctors seem confident she will walk again. They are unsure regarding her memory and personality. Time will determine that.

12:15pm: The drain is out of head. She spent two hours in a chair today. She is peacefully napping. I have been trying to get emotion out of her other than anger. So far I have been unsuccesful. I'll settle for a laugh. Any ideas?

7:54pm: With all the recent good events I am spending the night at home with the kids and having a drink (or 3, or 7). PT didn't go well again. Her 2, physical therapy 0. We had a nice talk about going home, rescheduling the cruise, and getting out of the hospital and she agreed to try harder. Good night everyone. I am off to watch the Princess and the Frog with my Prince and Princess.

More updates on my friend...

2010-03-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

I was so excited because I got to visit her in the hospital on Tuesday evening. She was pretty alert and recognized me immediately, and it was so nice to just give her a big hug!!! I was working most of the day yesterday and didn't have much time to post her husband's updates, so I'll post yesterday's and today's below. Thank you again so much for continuing to pray for this beautiful family!!!

WEDNESDAY's UPDATES
3:14pm UPDATE: Done for tests today. They got her out of the bed and into a chair for two hours. She is cleared for pureed foods. The brain drain could be pulled tomorrow. Possible downgrade from critical to stable this week. We continue to move forward. I slept for 10+ hours!!!

9:13am UPDATE: Her voice is getting better. Still a little scratchy from the tubes. Her personality is a little off. Docs says its typical for her act a little immature or childish. That will get better with time. She is very hungry but not able to swallow very well so she is eating pureed foods. We are working on her being able to sit up but her neck hurts after awhile. CT tomorow. Good night everyone!

THURSDAY's UPDATES
9:10am UPDATE: She had a good night of sleep. Speech is getting better. She talks a little slow. Personality is still off and docs say that is normal and wiill improve. She does have some ultra short-term memory loss. More physical therapy today. Docs say it will take months of therapy. Right side works better than the left side. I am spending the night at home with the kids tonight.

6:16pm UPDATE: I am spending the night with the kids. Daughter was up late crying for daddy. She was tired most of the morning due to a lot of physical therapy. They clamped the brain drain which means they might take it out tomorrow.

Prayer is working!

2010-03-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

I have always believed in prayer. Prayer is what got me to hang on through 11 weeks of bedrest so that my kids had the best start possible. Prayer is what pulls the faithful through many times when we just feel like we need guidance in some way. And prayer is certainly contributing to the miracle that is my friend. One week ago she went into the hospital with a life-threatening blood clot in her brain. One week ago the outlook was not the greatest, and her family and friends could do nothing but wait helplessly for any shred of good news that could boost our spirits. For the past week we were clinging to good news like a life preserver in an ocean of fear. I am completely amazed by the number of people praying for her daily. And it's working...today, we got the best news imaginable! Here are her husband's Facebook posts from today, so that you can read about it in his words:

8:15am UPDATE: Tough night for sleep. She thinks she can do whatever, whenever (typical). She is not supposed to move a lot because the drain in her head works on gravity. If she moves too much it will drain the fluids too fast and could be fatal. We struggled all night with this but I think she gets it now. We are waiting to do a CT later today and compare it to previous CTs to analyze the change in brain swelling.

10:13am UPDATE: Doctors say her heart is 100% and NORMAL!!! Physical therapy helped her stand next to the bed. Speech therapist said she can start with ice chips for now. More tests later today. We are having a great morning.

3:04pm UPDATE: Because of all the positive progress, the CT was put on hold till tomorrow or the next day. The next big things will be eating food and removing the drainin her head. She has been resting most of the day. I am spending tonight at home with the kids. I need sleep. Unless something happens, this is my last post for today. Thank you again for your love and prayers.

Great News on a Monday (how ironic!)

2010-03-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

My friend's husband has already posted a couple of updates this morning and I just had to share...I'll add on his updates if he posts more later today, but for the time being here are the first two updates of the day!

6:52an UPDATE: Chest Xray is done. There is a greater than 50% chance of the tubes coming out. Lots of tests scheduled today. She had a great night sleep. She is a little uncomfortable but should get better if the tubes come out. Mobility gets better everyday. If you're visiting today, please call ahead. Doctors should be by soon. I'll let you know about the tubes.

8:56am UPDATE: The tubes are out!!!!!!!!! She is talking. No slurred speech. Doesn't appear to have any memory loss. She asked for bacon, eggs, and coffee. She says she feels much better and looks great!!! Heart is stable which is good. I'll update again later. Today is the best day yet!

Tonight's post --- 9:35pm UPDATE: Sorry for the late post. Went out with the family to celebrate the good day. She was able to read her patient board from about 10 feet away. Doctors are amazed with her progress. Heart is the same. She is in good spirits. More of the same tests tomorrow. Good night everyone.

Updates for Sunday

2010-03-21T06:58:00.001-07:00

My friend continues to improve! I knew she was a strong woman, but she's proving just how strong and all of her friends are so proud of her. We are grateful for everyone who is praying for her, and the prayers are certainly working! I was hoping to go visit today, but when I woke up I still had some leftover sinus and allergy issues from last week...so I didn't even try to go because I didn't want to risk exposing anyone in the ICU. I really hope I'm back to 100% later this week so I can go visit though!

Here are today's updates from her husband:

6:03am UPDATE: We both had our best night's sleep since we have been here. Chest Xray is done and head ultrasound later. Maybe CT scan as well. She just had a bath and is doing well this morning. She is excited about visitors today. They keep talking about downgrading her from ICU to a regular room. Fingers crossed. I'll update again after the doctors make their rounds. Today is starting out good.

9:39am UPDATE: The doctors are reducing her meds to the minimum. If she remains stable, they will remove the breathing tubes. They pushed the CT scan to tomorrow. The swelling in the brain continues to goes down. The heart is stable but remains the big concern. She is very active in bed. We are off to another good day so far. She is looking forward to visitors today.

8:52pm UPDATE: Sorry for the late post. Things move much slower around here on Sundays. They did not remove the tubes today. She refused to nap and doctors thought she was too tired. Good chance it will happen tomorrow. Lots of tests scheduled tomorrow. They continue to drain fluids from her lungs. Pneumonia seems to be under control. We make progress every day. Good night.

And a bonus post from her husband (in regards to the messages left by people who were able to visit her today!): FYI...Some of you haven't commented on her feistyness. She continues to try and spit out her tubes and bite anybody who tries to adjust them. She moves her legs likes she wants to jump out of bed.

Saturday Updates

2010-03-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Here are today's messages from my friend's husband...every step, no matter how small, is a miracle, and I continue to pray and ask others to pray for her:

5:05AM UPDATE: Another peaceful night. She needed rest after all the tests from yesterday. Just a chest Xray and a head ultrasound scheduled today. Breathing is great! Heart is stable which we will take. She just got some lotion for her skin. Skin color looks good. Headed home today to shower and take the kids out to lunch so I will update again in the early evening. It's been great to hear from all of you.

5:56AM FAQs: She has a shaved stripe on the top of her head for the drain to draw fluids from her brain. The back of her head is also shaved for the surgery, so she is not completely bald. Per hospital ICU rules, please do NOT send flowers or food. Teddy bears, balloons, etc. are acceptable. She has one nurse assigned to her and stays in the room at all times. I'll post more FAQs later. Pray for a good day!

4:06PM UPDATE: Xrays came back clean which means fluid is not in the lungs. Waiting on the cardiologist for the next step for the heart. She is off sedation so she is more awake than ever. Doctors say she can have visitors by appointment. Let me know if you would to stop by. Keep in mind she still has tubes in her mouth so if you don't want to see her like that you may want to wait.

7:11pm UPDATE: Doctors say the heart is not better but not worse. For now they want to stick with the current plan. She is off all sedatives and just using pain killers so she is awake a lot. Visitors are welcome. Just let me know when you want to come by. Just remember, she still has her tubes in her mouth. If you choose not to see her like that you may want to wait.

8:19pm UPDATE: The respiratory therapist said she is on the smallest amount of support with the breathing machines. Small possiblity she may be taken off the machines tomorrow. She in good spirits and communicasting (blinking) a lot. Had a nanny this morning and she quit two hours after I hired her. 0 for 2 with nannies. Good night everyone!!!

Updates for Friday!!!

2010-03-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

These are updates posted by my friend's husband today regarding her status...he's been posting from his Blackberry at the hospital since it all started on Tuesday, and I am just grateful that technology is allowing this so we can stay on top of the updates without having to bother him for information.

6:36AM UPDATE: Another good night. Breathing contnues to improve. Heart is about the same. Waiting for doctors to look at it and figure out if the meds are working. A lot of tests are scheduled for today-chest Xray (looking for fluids in lungs), head CT, and a variety of heart tests. It's possible she could be taken off the breathing machines in the next 2 days. Lets keep our fingers crossed. I'll update later.

10:33AM UPDATE: They successfully drained the fluids from her lungs. This could be a daily thing. She off for a CT scan of the brain. The heart remains the primary concern. They are trying a new med to get the heart going. Time is our biggest friend. We have made progress but our worst fears are still possible. We feel your love and thank you!

12:19PM UPDATE: Still waiting on CT results. They just gave her a bath and washed her hair (what is left). That brought her resting heart rate down so she seems to be relaxed. They are starting a cranium test for clots. Waiting is the hardest part. Thank you for all of your love and support. She is going to love seeing all of this.

4:13PM UPDATE: The doctor looked at the CT from this morning next the CT from two days ago. The swelling is starting to come down in her brain. This will improve her motor skills as the swelling comes down. They started a new treatment for her heart this morning. We will know more tomorrow. The doctor said there is a tiny light in the tunnel. Prayers are working!

9:56pm UPDATE: It's been a long day of tests. She is sleeping peacefully. Finally went out with the family for dinner. Good to see the world outside the hospital. Light day of tests tomorrow. Still looking for improvement with the lungs and heart. Looking forward to spending a few hours with the kids tomorrow. Good night everyone and thanks again for your prayers and support.

I will continue to post updates as I get them on Facebook. Thank you for reading...and thank you even more for praying!

A new day...

2010-03-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

Today was a new day, and we got an update first thing from my friend's husband. She had an angiogram around 5 a.m. and they determined that her brain is clear and clot-free...no problem areas remain there. Such great news! The most recent update came around 2:20 p.m., when her husband notified everyone that the doctor ran some tests...her heart isn't getting any better, but it's also not getting any worse at this point, so we'll take that as a positive thing. Her breathing is becoming easier, so hopefully that means the fluid in her lungs won't be as much of a problem. And the fever she had in the wee hours of the morning is gone. Always a good sign. He also said that the doctor has "upgraded" his own opinion of her case from "dire" to "cautiously optimistic." I know that means she may not be out of the woods yet, but as far as I'm concerned, optimistic is the way to be.

Our crusade to get as many prayer warriors as possible praying for her has been continuing. I sent an email through the prayer chain at a church I attended a while back, and that was forwarded on to everyone. Last night we started a Facebook group just for this situation. Less than 19 hours after the group was started, we found out that 100 people had already joined the group. That's 100 people, just on Facebook. 100 prayers. And many of those people are praying constantly. It's such a small triumph, but we know it's helping. At least I feel like we're able to contribute in some way. Feeling helpless and useless is not a good thing.

THANK YOU for continuing to follow this journey. We have hope that everything will be ok, and knowing that there are so many people praying for a positive outcome just helps bolster that support even more.

More prayers needed

2010-03-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

My friend's husband updated us on Facebook at 8:42 pm. She was given a full-body ultrasound that did not reveal any other clots in her body (they removed two from her brain last night), so that's good news. More good news is that when she's awake, she's responsive. She blinks to answer yes/no questions, so that's great.

The downside is that her heart is operating at less than 50% capacity. She has pneumonia, and there is fluid in her lungs. These are not good findings...but I know that there are so many people who are praying for her, and I know that prayer is the most powerful weapon we have at this time. I feel so helpless, and I wish there was more I could do to help...but for now, I will continue to recruit more prayer warriors for her army.

Thank you for reading these posts, and for praying for my dear friend.

Progress

2010-03-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

The latest update on my friend is that she woke up from her coma this morning...she opened her eyes. She is also wiggling her toes and squeezing her hands, so that's definitely progress. I continue to pray for her and I know she will continue to do well...thank you SO MUCH if you've been reading and praying with me.

Prayers please...

2010-03-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

A very good friend of mine collapsed at the gym this morning and was taken to the local hospital where they found a blood clot in her brain...she was life-flighted to a hospital in Jacksonville 45 minutes away. I heard all of this news at 11 a.m. this morning, and the last update I got was about an hour ago from her husband on Facebook...at that time she'd been in surgery for two hours. I don't know how many people read this, or how often, but I'd like to ask that anyone who does PLEASE say a prayer for her and for her family during this time and for the near future. She's a wonderful mom to two wonderful kids, and I know that there are lots of people praying for her between family and friends...but I firmly believe there's no such thing as too much prayer. Thank you in advance for helping her out.

UPDATE at 10:40 p.m.: She was done with surgery somewhere around 10 p.m., so the good news is that she survived the procedure. Her heartbeat is irregular, so that's a concern at this point, and her lungs are causing concern as well because during this process she has developed pneumonia. We'll know more tomorrow...they are keeping her in an induced coma to help her recover. Please continue your prayers for her and her family, as well as all of the medical professionals overseeing her care.

The Weather Outside Is...

2010-03-10T22:18:00.000-08:00

BEAUTIFUL! The weather in Florida is known for being hot, and humid, and just not my cup of tea. I'm one of the few Florida residents you will ever see getting excited when the temps drop for the winter. I grew up as a Navy brat, moving up and down the east coast. We lived in Canada for two years when my dad did an officer exchange program. We had three feet of snow at Christmas time and loved it! Not saying I need three feet of snow in Florida, because people can't figure out to drive when it rains here as it is (and snow would just really mess everyone up!). But I LOVE the winter weather so much because it's nice to put on a sweater and cuddle with the kids under a blanket and watch movies. You just can't do that in the summertime, unless you're willing to face the wrath of the electric bill when you run your AC system way too much.

Anyway, today was the first time in a while that we had temps in the low 70's. If this was the warmest it ever got in Florida, I could be a very, very happy woman. I'll survive when we get back to the 90's and even the low 100's, but I'll be secretly thinking back to today and remembering how nice it was to open all the windows in the house and air it out. Everything just smells so clean when there's a fresh breeze passing through the house. It (almost) makes me want to start spring cleaning . Almost.

It's almost 10:15 p.m. (EST), and our windows are still open. They'll get closed before I go to sleep tonight, since we're supposed to get rain off and on for the next day and a half and it's forecasted to start around 1 a.m. But they've been open for a long time and it's amazing how much better the house feels. I have been so messed up with allergies (because my car is now yellow instead of gray, which means pollen is out in full force already!) that I haven't enjoyed being outdoors much lately...but bringing the outdoors inside just feels so great. With some luck, maybe the rain will wash away some of the pollen and ease my stuffy head. And wash my car off while it's at it.

Tonight I'm counting my blessings and being thankful for this beautiful weather.

A Mini-Reunion

2010-03-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

My blessing message for this post is that I am thankful that we had the opportunity to reconnect with one of my cousins!

My cousin Tim and his wife and three daughters were in Orlando this past week for a vacation. They traveled from Canada to take the girls to Disney and Sea World for a week of fun and laughs and memories, and I really hope they got all that and more. My parents and I drove down to Orlando (it's only 2 hours from my home, so not a bad run at all) on Wednesday this week and met them for breakfast on Thursday morning, and then we all went to Sea World together for the day. We drove back home Friday and then Tim and his family flew back to Canada this morning.

I haven't seen my cousin in at least 12 years. I don't even know if it was summer of 1997 or 1998 when I last saw him...it's just been so long that I don't remember! I only got to meet his wife once or twice, and I had never met his daughters (his oldest will be 11 this year, so none of them had been born when I was last in Canada visiting family). My parents try to visit him once a year during their annual trip to visit my mom's sisters, so they've gotten to watch his girls grow up. They're all very sweet and kind and just as pretty on the inside as they are on the outside. It was so nice to meet them and spend time with them. Megan and Jeremy were also very happy to have them along for the day at Sea World! I confess that my kids weren't exactly on their best behavior that day though. I suppose when you figure they had less than eight hours of sleep the night before (as opposed to their usual 10-11), and no break for a nap at the park all day, I couldn't have realistically expected them to be perfect angels. All in all, it was a wonderful day, and I took lots of pictures to remember it by. Kate, the youngest, and Ali, the oldest, were both chosen to participate in a show at some point during the day, so that was also very entertaining!

Jeremy took a special shine to Tim (even if he didn't want to smile for the photo at left...he kept asking Tim to pick him up and show him all the animals). I think Jeremy really missed his daddy on the trip. Unfortunately, Steve had to work and couldn't join us in Orlando, but we're planning to get down to Sea World for a visit again sometime soon, just the four of us. My parents now have Fun Cards and can go to Sea World from now until the end of the year with those, so we will probably ask them to join us, too!

Baby Steps

2010-02-14T00:09:00.000-08:00

Somehow a friend and I recently got into a discussion about watching our kids take their first steps. It seems like forever ago, but it's been less than three years! My kids weren't early walkers (thank goodness, since they outnumber me), so I didn't have to worry about it as much as mommies with babies who start walking before they're expected to. But once my kids were walking, I realized that was one more thing checked off on the list...mobility meant a new level of independence. They still loved to be picked up and carried, but charting out a new adventure soon became the new favorite pasttime.

I was working a lot this past week, and the kids were extremely good considering my schedule. They entertained each other, singing songs and playing together, and they were very, very good...of course, their radar is still exceptional because they wait until I'm on the phone for business before they come talk 100 miles an hour about something that is obviously (to them) VERY important and urgent. Usually they're referring to a book they want me to read right at that moment or the fact that they want me to make them lunch (even though lunchtime is still two hours away). At any rate, from time to time I take a break to sit with them, put together a puzzle, play a game, whatever they feel like doing. On one of my "breaks," I gave them each a big hug and told them that they're "my favorite two babies EVER!" (kind of a joke we bounce back and forth, since they know they're my only two babies ever!). Megan didn't even miss a beat, as she was hugging me when I declared they were my favorites...she immediately replied, "Yeah, and we're growing up so fast!" Yikes!

Keep in mind, I constantly give updates to relatives I speak with my phone, friends I haven't seen in a while, etc. When they ask how the kids are, I honestly answer, "They're great, but they're growing up so fast!" It's become a trigger answer, not because I don't have anything better to say, but because it's completely true all the time. They have grown up quickly. Four years seems like a blur, and I know it's going to continue to go by fast. I suppose Megan has picked up the phrase because she hears me say it. But the reality of hearing her say it to me was just stunning. She was full of joy at the prospect of growing up. Her grin was a mile wide. I couldn't help but smile back, but it was a reminder to appreciate all of the little things.

They've been walking on their own for almost three years now, but every day they take "baby steps," and those are the moments I'm so grateful I can witness.

Mixed Feelings

2010-01-30T19:42:00.001-08:00

I signed my kids up for VPK today. There, I said it. I can't believe that they've turned four (shoot, I was still adjusting to having two three-year-olds...let me catch up!). On one hand, it's just an absolute delight to watch them grow and change and learn so many new things. They really have distinct personalities and it's so much fun to see them figure out just WHO they are.

But I want them to stay little. Just a while longer.

I know all moms probably say that at some point. But having twins means you have twice as many kids transitioning to the next stage at the same time. You don't really have a chance to stop, enjoy it, and then look forward to it with the next kid (or for some of my friends...the third, the fourth, etc.). And since these are the only two we (plan to) have (unless God has a seriously crazy sense of humor), this is the only chance I get to enjoy the steps they take.

Now, if you ask my husband, he just laughs and tells me I can always walk down memory lane. I've only taken a million photos of them in their first four years, so reliving the experience through the magic of pictures isn't too difficult!

You want to hear something even worse? For every ounce of me that is sad to see them growing up, there's another part of me that is celebrating the independence they are experiencing. I'm told it's a classic case of mother's guilt...you want your child(ren) to stay little forever, but at the same time you can't wait to watch them grow up. I want to see what kind of people they will be. And I'd also like to see what waits for me down the road now that I will have some extra time on my hands during the weekdays.

We have SO many steps and memorable moments ahead of us, but for some reason, knowing that they'll be starting VPK in August is like knowing that there's this wall ahead. And when we get to that wall, we'll climb over it into "big kid" land, and gone forever will be "baby world." We'll have homework, and field trips, and all kinds of activities and milestones. But part of me already misses the quiet snuggles and warm cuddles from the tiny little babies they started out as. I'm lucky because they still love to snuggle, so I think I'll take some comfort in knowing that won't ever change completely.

We aren't sure which school they'll be attending, since I'm told the school district won't allow confirmation of school selection until July, but I'll definitely be signing on as a volunteer for at least one day a week. I don't want to be a helicopter mom, but it will be nice to know that I can still spend so much time with them.

And my camera won't be far away, either. :)

Blessings

2010-01-12T11:08:00.000-08:00

I was thinking the last couple weeks about what I want to do with my blog. I don't get the chance to blog as often as I'd like, so I want to change that this year. 2010 is the first year I haven't really made a New Year's Resolution for, so maybe my resolution will be to look for more blessings in my life...things that are everyday and ordinary, but mean a lot.

That being said, today I want to share about the blanket you see in the picture to the left. The weather has gotten pretty cold here lately, not common for Florida, but I LOVE it. We went through our closet and pulled out a couple of warmer blankets to add to the kids' beds, just to make sure they're warm enough at night while they sleep.

This blanket once hung in the window of a gift shop at a hospital in Jacksonville. Steve and I had gone through two fertility treatments that failed, and I was scheduled for an exploratory surgery to find out if there was a reason for the treatments to fail that had not been previously diagnosed. Steve had to work and couldn't take me to the hospital the day of the surgery, but my mom offered to drive me there and bring me home afterward, since it was an outpatient procedure.

The gift shop is located on the hospital's first floor, and you pass by it as you walk from the parking garage to the elevator bank. I remember (vaguely) passing by the window and seeing the blanket, and telling my mom that I really hoped we could figure out where to go from here with treatments so I would have a reason to need a baby blanket. At that point we'd been trying for almost 18 months, and I was caught somewhere between frustration and sadness. I went into the surgery and came through with flying colors, even though I was groggy and nauseated from the medicine they give you beforehand. Mom brought me home and I crawled into bed, where I basically spent two days recovering per the doctor's orders.

Fast forward a couple of months...we went through our first IVF procedure and found out that we were carrying not one but TWO babies. We were excited, nervous and just plain happy. God answers prayers. My mom brought me a bag and told me that she had planned on waiting until later in the pregnancy, but just couldn't wait anymore. Inside was this blanket...she had waited until my surgery began, and then she had gone back downstairs to the gift shop and bought the blanket that was hanging in the window. She knew that somehow, someway, we would be welcoming a baby into our family, and she wanted me to have that blanket since I had noticed it on my way into the surgery that day. It's been 4 1/2 years since she gave it to me, and I remember those days and weeks so vividly.

This blanket is a constant reminder of just how blessed we are, and how we should count those blessings all the time!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T19:35:00.001-08:00

I wish you and your families the most blessed of Christmases this year. We work so hard to not lose sight of the true reason for the season, the birth of our Lord and Savior. We set out our nativity scene each year and the kids are starting to really understand that we celebrate "Baby Jesus' birthday" at Christmas, and it's something we're very excited to teach them about.

One tradition we have also adopted has been to visit Santa at the same location each year. We take the kids to see Santa at the Regency Square Mall in Jacksonville, and I thought it would be fun to share the photos of them with him at age one, two, three and four (this year's photo). There was a visit from Santa at the hospital the day the kids were born, and I harrassed good ol' St. Nick into sitting in a chair in my hospital room and holding the kids for a pic, so while it's not the same Santa in the same location, it's their first official Santa photo ever. :)

December 2005 - only a few hours old!

December 2006 - One Year Old

December 2007 - Two Years Old

December 2008 - Three Years Old

December 2009 - Four Years Old

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T18:54:00.000-08:00

Another Thanksgiving has come and is almost gone already. It seems like time flies by even faster as the kids get older. Probably because I have to move so much faster to keep up with them these days!

We had lunch with my side of the family and dinner with Steve's side of the family. Steve had to work, but he was able to meet us at his parents' house about an hour after the kids and I got there. :)

I have to be proud of myself, because this month a friend challenged me through Facebook to write something I'm thankful for as my status update every day. I got the notice 18 days ago, and today was the 18th day I did it! I know we say constantly how blessed we are, but when you start challenging yourself to count ALL of the ways, you become even more amazed by all the blessings. So I thought I would copy my "thankful" notes into my blog so that I'll have a way to look back and remember them once in a while. Some of them are very small, others are very large, but it's not the size of the blessing that makes it so important...it's just the fact that it's a blessing at all.

One more note I should mention is that I didn't get to work on this for the whole month because I didn't receive the challenge until the second week of the month, so it's just from November 9th on. :)

Nov. 9 - Today I am thankful for two children who are 100% pure energy and sunlight, because it means they have their health...and that's a blessing.

Nov. 10 - Today I am thankful for my husband, who is my best friend. I am truly blessed to be in love with someone who understands me (and all of my quirks!), and my children are blessed to have a father who takes such wonderful care of them.

Nov. 11 - VETERAN'S DAY - Today I am thankful for our nation's veterans who have fought for the freedom we enjoy in America every single day. I salute my father, other relatives, friends and everyone else who have served in the past, as well as all those who currently serve and those who will serve in the future. God bless our veterans and the country they serve to protect.

Nov. 12 - Today I am thankful for the roof over our heads and the warm beds we sleep in each night, especially when the Florida temperatures (finally) begin to drop a little more at night.

Nov. 13 - Today I am thankful for Fridays, because even when you don't work a typical Monday-Friday job, Fridays are just so much more fun. :) I hope all of my family and friends have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Nov. 14 - Today I am thankful for the opportunities I have to work from home while staying home with my kids during their early years. I'm also thankful for the great people I get to meet as a result of these opportunities!

Nov. 15 - Today I am thankful for the love of God, who knows what even our smallest hopes are and takes care of us. We may not always understand why things happen (or why other things don't happen), but there are reasons for everything.

Nov. 16 - Today I am thankful for the opportunity to substitute teach from time to time, because there are those moments when you're working with the students and you can actually see that they're listening and learning from you (even when they're trying to be stubborn teenagers!). It makes me happy to know that I might make a glimmer of a difference somehow.

Nov. 17 - Today I am thankful for my friends! I grew up as part of a Navy family and we moved all over the map as a result, so I have friends from almost every station. I am blessed to have friends who know me and understand me (and also friends who may not understand me but accept and love me anyway). And I'm thankful for the long-ago friends I've reconnected with on FB because they are wonderful reminders of my younger years. I may not ever be a millionaire, but I'm rich in friendship and that's what counts!

Nov. 18 - Today I am thankful for my health. Even on days when I wake up with sinus trouble or a little twinge in my back that reminds me not to overdo, I know I am very lucky. I am also thankful for Steve's health and the health of our kids.

Nov. 19 - Today I am thankful for the simple things I sometimes take for granted. We have piles of laundry, but that means we have clothes to wear. We have a car payment, but that means we have a safe and reliable vehicle for our family to travel in. We have a stack of dishes in the sink, but that means we are lucky to be able to provide food for our family. We are blessed in so many ways!

Nov. 20 - Today I am thankful for my parents, because I know that they love and support me. My parents always let me know they were proud of me...they celebrated even the little milestones and reminded me that I could do so many things if I worked hard enough. I have many valuable lessons that I have learned from them, and I wouldn't be the person I am today without them!

Nov. 21 - Today I am thankful for my friend Cindy Sturgill...and she knows exactly why. :) [Cindy decided she was thankful for me that day, too...so we exchanged thankful posts!]

Nov. 22 - Today I am thankful for my brother Kris and his family, as well as my brothers- and sisters-in-law and their families, because having an extended family adds so much love to our lives! The kids are always so excited to see their aunts and uncles and cousins. :)

Nov. 23 - Today I am thankful for all the photos I've taken/had taken of the kids for the past four years. We're rapidly approaching their fourth birthday, and it's so nice to be able to walk down memory lane and remember them in their "smaller" days. :) Time flies when you're having fun...but each day is a miracle and we appreciate them all!

Nov. 24 - Today I am thankful for Steve being back on day shift for a couple of months! The kids and I love him so much, and we get to see much more of him during daylight hours now.

Nov. 25 - Today I am thankful for my children (again). Sometimes I just sit back and watch them play together, and I realize how lucky we are to have them, and how lucky they are to have each other.

Nov. 26 - THANKSGIVING DAY - Today I am thankful that I've had 17 other days to count my blessings, and I am reminded that I have SO much to be thankful for. I wish you and your families all the best the season has to offer...we are truly blessed, and we give thanks to God every day for everything!

Heaven's New Angel

2009-11-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

I shared a story about baby VernaAnn in a post last week titled "Calling All Angels." An update to that story is available now at this link: http://artisticaccentsbydarla.blogspot.com/2009/11/birth-of-angel.html I know the story is sad, and one that we will never fully understand the purpose behind (because only HE can), but the family is strong and I know they can only benefit from our continued prayers.

At the prayer service for this sweet little girl, the pastor shared a story that a friend of mine so graciously shared with me. It is also now posted by the pastor on the blogosphere at this link: http://pastorsheets.blogspot.com/2009/11/heavenly-glimpse-at-life-of-vernaann.html?spref=fb

Happy Veterans Day!

2009-11-11T15:25:00.000-08:00

Just a note to say that I hope everyone has a wonderful Veterans Day! I hope you get to spend time with your family. Read a newspaper. Talk to friends and family. Go out for a nice meal. See a movie. Go shopping. Whatever you do, have a GREAT day...and remember that you are able to do every single one of those things because you have the blessing of a living in a free country. :)

Please stop and say a prayer for each and every one of those who have served/is serving/will serve in our armed forces, past present and future...and thank them for the commitment they have made to keep us safe, secure and free. God bless America!!!

Calling All Angels

2009-11-06T16:14:00.000-08:00

In the day-to-day life of parents, we sometimes forget to count our blessings and make the most of our miracles. My kids were definitely heaven-sent, even if they sometimes get loud and rambunctious. Today was one of those days where I needed a reminder of this fact, and I know I'm not alone when I say that I have moments where all I want is a nice quiet room to just relax in. Then I come home and catch up with some friends on Facebook and other sites, and I find a link to THIS blog: http://artisticaccentsbydarla.blogspot.com/2009/11/calling-all-angels.html

Please take some time to read this entry and say a special prayer for this family as they go through this journey together. If you're like me, you'll need some tissues. And if you're like me, you'll run to your kids and give them an extra hug, and thank God for the miracles they really are.

Talk About Scary!

2009-10-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

So it's Halloween. I know that for some, it's not much of a holiday. For others, it's their favorite. We've always been pretty neutral on Halloween, and for our kids we give them the chance to stretch their imaginations and be whatever they want to be, and we try to cut out as much of the scary parts as we can. This year, Megan is a fairy princess and Jeremy is a football player (an Oklahoma Sooner, to be exact, but Mommy is trying to look beyond that! Go Gators!). We'll go trick-or-treating tonight, but only once around the block, not for miles and miles. We've gotten to know several more of our neighbors, so it's not as "scary" for me anymore. Two years ago when we went trick-or-treating for the very first time, we stopped at our next-door neighbors' home first. The kids did the usual...knocked on the door, said "Trick-or-treat!" when the door opened...and then proceeded to walk right past the lady of the house and into her living room. Oops. That just makes you a bit freaked out! Last year they managed to avoid the same problem, and I know they'll do just fine this year. In light of recent events (a little girl from the next county over was abducted, killed and left in a landfill in Georgia...so sad), I will be even more cautious than usual (not sure if that's even possible, but I'll try!)...but since Steve walks with us and is in law enforcement, I do have a little more peace of mind.

The kids have the most incredible imaginations. Last night a couple of hours before bed, Megan was telling me about her friend, gesturing to the air next to her. I realized that she has her very first imaginary friend. At least, I thought it was only one. As the evening progressed I noticed that she had gotten Jeremy in on the game. And that there were more "friends" than I realized. Turns out all of the Disney princesses (and their prince counterparts) are her "friends." She told me they had all gone to the park together, and they might go to the beach the next day, and she was just so excited about it. I remember having an imaginary friend when I was young, but I was older than my kids are now when my friend first arrived on the scene. I guess it's just scary to think about how fast the kids are growing up. I feel sometimes like I've hit the fast-forward button on their toddler years. They'll be FOUR in December, and I remember when they were just months old, and I was thinking to myself how far away the school years seemed. I didn't "wish" that they would get to that point quickly, because I knew they would get there and I would miss the earlier days. But it's amazing to me that I've been blessed with almost four years as their mom already. Imagine being that much closer to having two teenagers...now THAT'S scary! :)

Over The Top

2009-10-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

My blogger buddy Alana at http://alana-isms.blogspot.com/ tagged me with the "Over the Top" award today. The key is to provide only one-word responses, which can make for some fairly creative answers!

Here are the rules for the Over The Top Award:

USE ONLY ONE WORD! It’s not as easy as you might think. Copy and change the answers to suit yourself and pass it on. It’s really hard to use only one-word answers so try your best!

Tag 6 other bloggers and let them know that you think they are 'Over the Top'!

1. Where is your cell phone?

Purse

2.Your hair?

Clean.

3. Your mother?

Caring

4. Your father?

Dedicated

5. Your favorite food?

Chocolate

6. Your dream last night?

Strange

7. Your favorite drink?

Rootbeer

8. Your dream/goal?

Writer

9. What room are you in?

Office

10. Your hobby?

Scrapbooking

11. Your fear?

Failure

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?

Happy

13. Where were you last night?

Home

14. Something that you aren’t?

Famous

15. Muffins?

Chocolate

16. Wish list item?

Couch

17. Where did you grow up?

Navy

18. Last thing you did?

Showered

19. What are you wearing?

Nightgown

20. Your TV?

DVR :)

21. Your pets?

Three

22. Friends?

Blessings

23. Your life?

Full

24. Your mood?

Exhausted

25. Missing someone?

Definitely

26. Vehicle?

Vue

27. Something you’re not wearing?

Socks

28. Your favorite store?

Disney

29. Your favorite color?

Blue

30. When was the last time you laughed?

Tonight

31. Last time you cried?

Grey's (stealing your answer for this one, Alana!)

32. Your best friend?

Steve

33. One place that I go to over and over?

Crazy

34. One person who emails me regularly?

Stacey

35. Favorite place to eat?

Home

I'm going to stick to my old routine and ask that anyone who WANTS to participate, please go ahead and do so! I don't know if I have six followers anyway! :)

Back To School!

2009-08-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

School started for area counties on Monday this week. It's almost Friday, and I am going to be working my first day as a sub in the new school year. The fun part is that it's at the high school I graduated from, and it's only for half a day, so I don't have to be there until 10:50 a.m. (saving me from a 6 a.m. wake-up call, which would also involve getting the kids up, dressed and out the door!). I am going to "teach" art class! I'm so happy, because it's a fun subject to work with and up til now the only art sub experience I've had was with very young elementary school students (Kindergarten, and first through third graders). I don't think it'll be a complete piece of cake, but it's got to be somewhat less demanding than giving small children scissors, construction paper and glue. And I'll bet that high school students actually clean up their messes when they are asked to!

Ah, high school. It seems like a lifetime ago! My favorite thing was Friday night football games with friends, especially when the weather got a bit cooler and you could wear a light coat and not swelter in the heat. Or maybe senior picnic, out on the football field, with bbq lunches and music and games. Of course, I also loved all of the activities I was involved in. I sang in the chorus, competed academically, and even participated on several of the sports teams in my three years there. High school may not have been the easiest time in my life, but it definitely gave me some good memories.

I'm looking forward to the job, and I am so grateful to two friends who are going to keep the kids for me (one for the first part of the day, the other for the remainder). I put myself in a bit of a mess by accepting the assignment before making sure I had childcare covered, so I am so indebted to those two friends for helping me out in a pinch like this. Subs have to work one day out of every 120, which isn't a problem during the school year...the problem is that summer counts as part of the 120! The last assignment I had was May 7th...if I don't work at least one day before the end of next week, I wouldn't be able to keep my active status as a substitute teacher, and then I'd have to fill out more paperwork and go through all the legwork to get reactivated again.

Time to get some sleep so that I'm ready to roll in the morning. It'll be weird to walk the halls of my Alma Mater again, but it's the second time I've taken an assignment there, so the changes that have been made in the last 13 years won't seem as shocking now (I hope!).

Here's my blog challenge, for any and all who may read this post: What is your favorite high school memory that you would like to share? Leave me a comment and let me know. :)

Memories of Grammie

2009-08-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

My parents recently returned from a trip to Canada to visit my aunts, my mother's two sisters, who live there. My mom was born and raised in New Brunswick, in a small town bordering Quebec. Now that they're back from their trip, we've been catching up and today she was telling me about how things are there.

I spent most of my childhood traveling there on an annual basis to visit my grandparents. Dad was in the Navy, so it was one of those big adventures to go visit family in Canada, even if dad was deployed at the time. Looking back, I realize just how strong my mother must have been...a two- or three-day drive with two kids couldn't have been the most fun experience, but she pushed through and got us there safely each time. My brother and I looked forward to the time spent there each year, and it was just bonus if dad was able to travel with us, too, depending on his deployment schedule.

My grandparents were amazing people, and I was definitely lucky to make so many valuable memories of them that I can carry with me forever. My brother and I would get so disappointed about going in summer because that meant missing the snow, but then we'd miss berry-picking season if we traveled there during the winter. Regardless of the season, we always found plenty to keep us busy, and that was in no small part thanks to Grammie and Grandpa. As soon as we'd arrive, if there was still enough daylight left, they'd slip us each a dollar or two and we'd dart up the road to the little "canteen," a small convenience store. I'm surprised I didn't have more cavities as a child, considering just how far you could stretch a dollar when penny candy was involved!

My grandfather would take us out in his canoe, paddling up and down the river. We'd go fishing, listen to him sing songs (some well-known, others that he would just make up on his own). He was so devoted to my grandmother. I realize now that we build our relationship expectations for later in life based on what we see and experience as children, and I'm glad that my grandparents (and my parents) have been such good role models!

My grandfather passed away the day I left for college my freshman year. It was a horrible loss, since it was quite unexpected. I made the decision very soon after that I would travel on my own to Canada the following summer and stay with my grandmother for a while. The idea that she was there alone after so many years of being half a couple was just too sad for me to think about, so I figured I would help in any way I could. I knew my family couldn't make the trip as a group, so I approached my parents about finding a way for me to fly up there for a month or two.

The first summer there on my own, I stayed with her for six weeks. We laughed, watched her favorite television shows, cooked meals and yummy desserts, went for long drives with no particular destination. She had been treated for lung cancer when I was only 13, so her health wasn't the greatest at that point, but I think that she worked extra hard to hide that from me while I was there. Still, the signs were not easy to hide, and I knew that she wasn't going to be around for too many more years. You try not to focus on the negative when you're in that situation. That's what building memories is all about, right? So I focused instead of finding new ways to make her laugh, helping her with errands and sneaking the answers into her crossword puzzles when she wasn't looking.

By the following summer, the summer after my sophomore year, I knew I'd be going back to stay with her again. I opted for two months this time. And I'm so glad I did! Her health was still in decline, but her spirit was amazingly infectious. One of my aunts had told me she wondered if Grammie had lost her faith, fallen down spiritually over the loss of my grandfather. One night we were watching television, and I was too curious not to say anything, so I asked her, "Gram, have you lost your faith?" Her response? "No dear. I lost your grandfather, but not my faith. If I lost my faith, what would be left for me to hold on to?" She was so sure of where he was and I think she knew she would be seeing his beautiful face again soon. We had many discussions that summer, ranging from what I wanted to accomplish with my education to what I was looking for in a future relationship. Our conversations weren't always "deep," but each one had special significance to me.

My family joined us at the end of my eight weeks, and they stayed for a few days before we started the trek back home. Before we left, my grandmother told me to keep my eyes open, because the man I was looking for was not as far off as I thought. She told me that I may have already met him! When I asked her if I could count on coming to stay with her again the following summer, she hugged me tight and said, "I don't know...I might have other plans."

The day I arrived back home in Florida from that visit, my mom convinced me to call a friend and see if she wanted to go out to a club and unwind a bit. I did, and we went. That's the night I met Steve...for the third time. You see, I met him briefly when we attended high school together, just for a moment in a crowded school hallway. Then again, just for a brief minute, when I was home for Christmas break my first year at college, and I was working right around the corner from him. Neither encounter registered a second glance, because I had been so caught up in my life at the time. But that third time, the day I came back from Canada, and the day after my grandmother had predicted I'd find him, that was the day I was really meant to meet him.

Steve and I started dating almost immediately, and less than three months later my grandmother's health took a turn for the worst. Mom flew to Canada to be there by her side with her sisters in the days before Grammie's passing, and Mom took a picture of me and Steve with her so Gram could see us together. They put the picture on a bulletin board next to her bed, and later my aunt told me that she had woken up, looked at the photo, and told my aunt that she was glad I found someone who could take care of me, because she couldn't be there to do it any longer. Grammie passed away the next morning, October 1998.

Lessons learned in those summers...I thought I was going to Canada those two summers to take care of my grandmother, because she needed ME. What I didn't realize was that she had been taking care of me that entire time as well. I needed her more than I ever knew. And I am so grateful that I had that time with her, because she gave me life lessons without even letting on that she was the teacher.

Life is Good

2009-07-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today was a day spent vegging at home with my kids. Checking email, watching a Disney movie with the two cuddliest kids ever, eating PB & J sandwiches for lunch. Steve is still on his two-week break from work, and his younger brother managed to arrange for a free round of golf at a course in Jacksonville...he was gone at 7 a.m., long before I ever woke up, and didn't get home til 6 p.m. We're a one-car household now, so the kids and I were home for the day (just as well, since it rained off and on all day!).

I know I could have spent a nice chunk of that time cleaning, or organizing. Goodness knows I could use some organization around our house (the laundry basket system just isn't working like it used to!). But it was nice to have some downtime and just relax. Days like these are the days when I really count my blessings and realize how good life really is. We have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies. And the kids are just so animated and full of life.

I miss my parents already. They flew up north so they could spend two weeks visiting my mom's family in Canada. They make the trip every year, and their first flight left at 5 a.m. today. I'm glad I was home because I was able to get every call they made, both when they arrived at each stop on their flight plan, and also when they arrived at my aunt's house just three hours across the border. I love to fly, can't wait to fly in October to my friend's wedding in Texas...but there's just something nervewracking about waiting for other family members and friends to make it to their destination safely. They say flying is safer than driving, and I believe that, but it's really nice when you get that phone call that confirms a safe touchdown. Life really is good!

Now a shout-out to my friend "Maxine," who wrote a post about me turning 31 yesterday. I've never had an entire blog post written about me before, and I was VERY flattered. :) Thanks...that made me smile!!!

Mac and Cheese

2009-07-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

The kids and I had mac and cheese with hot dogs for lunch today. Something about that meal choice really brings me back to the days when I was a kid. I just love it!

Steve had to work all weekend, night shift, so the kids and I were on our own for the 4th of July. We basically just stuck around the house during the day, and then headed downtown later in the evening to be on the lawn next to the fort when the fireworks began. It was AWESOME! I haven't seen a show quite that good in a long time...probably since the year we spent the 4th in Washington DC visiting my godparents, but that was in the mid-90's.

Megan and Jeremy sat in my lap for the first half of the 20-minute show, at which time Megan turned to me and said, "Mommy, I think we'll get back in our cart now...." Jeremy quickly followed her, explaining to me, "Yes mommy, it's a little bit scary!" Since we got rid of our standard double stroller a while ago, the "cart" was the trailer we can attach to a bicycle to tote them around the neighborhood. It converts to a stroller by adding a push bar and maneuvering the front wheel in place. They climbed in and pulled down the screen that covers the front, and they seemed to be much more comfortable watching from behind the screen.

After we hustled back to the parking lot (a mile away, since traffic was so crazy down there!), I got the car started and loaded the kids up. Someone walking by saw the dvd screens and laughed and said, "Can you imagine how we survived without things like that?" The kids were watching The Lion King, and having a fine time...good thing, since our "15 minute" car ride home lasted more than an hour with all of the tourist traffic!

Crazy 8's...courtesy of Alana

2009-06-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

So I met another blogger, Alana from Alana-isms, in person by accident (mentioned it in my last post, Small World). She's on my friends list now and today she posted a fun "tag" blog...and tags 5-8 were left open for anyone to jump on. I have therefore decided that (since I haven't blogged in well over a month) this would be a fun way to get back into the swing of things. :)

The rules:
1. Mention the person who tagged me.
2. Complete the lists of 8.
3. Tag 8 more bloggers and tell them they've been tagged.

The lists:

Eight things I am looking forward to:
1. Having the kids 100% potty trained. Very tired of the mess (and please, no lectures...I know they're 3...).
2. Watching the kids explore the world and learn new things. They are a constant source of awe for me.
3. Figuring out what I want to be "when I grow up." Staying at home full-time with the kids for 3+ years has been awesome, and it gives me the chance to clean the slate and pick a new line for my career, if I choose.
4. Liz's wedding in Austin, TX, this October. :) We've known each other for 18+ years now. She was there when I got married, and I wouldn't miss her big day for the world!
5. Steve being back on day shift. He just switched back to nights yesterday, and it'll be a LONG 56 days until he's back on days!
6. Transformers 2 and GI Joe coming out in theaters. How sad that my life revolves around release dates? Not to mention they're "boy" movies, but I don't mind. I grew up with my kid brother and he had those toys, so I feel like they were just as much part of my childhood as they were his!
7. The arrival of my new nephew in September. He'll join a big brother and two big sisters, and I know everyone's excited to meet him!
8. Our anniversary and my birthday. They're only five days apart, so it's like my celebration gets to last a week!

Eight things I did yesterday:
1. Slept in for a little bit (thankfully the kids wanted to sleep in, too!).
2. Showered, dressed, got the kids ready and drove to Jacksonville with the kids.
3. Worked for six hours at my part-time temp job (dropped the kids off to stay with my mom).
4. Went to pick up the kids after work and had dinner with them and my folks.
5. Drove back home to St. Augustine.
6. Got the kids ready and put to bed.
7. Watched some shows on my DVR that I hadn't gotten to previously.
8. Cleaned up around the house a little before going to bed for the night.

Eight things I wish I could do:
1. Play the piano or the guitar...I'm just not coordinated enough.
2. Win the lottery! Wouldn't that be great?
3. Travel the world. #2 would certainly help with that...
4. Be less of a packrat.
5. Find a cure for terrible diseases like cancer so that families wouldn't have to say goodbye to loved ones.
6. Learn to dance ballroom, like on Dancing With The Stars. Again, I'm a little too uncoordinated...
7. Find the magic solution for world problems like poverty, hunger, etc.
8. Be the best mom my kids could ever hope or ask for (I'm working on it...).

Eight shows I watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. Survivor
4. Chuck
5. Desperate Housewives
6. Dancing With The Stars
7. The Mentalist
8. Friends (yes, it's long-gone, but will live forever in reruns and my DVD collection!)

Eight favorite fruits:
1. Strawberries
2. Grapes
3. Oranges
4. Pineapples
5. Watermelons
6. Apples
7. Blueberries
8. Rasperries

Eight places I'd like to travel:
1. New York, NY
2. Canada (relatives!)
3. Ireland
4. England
5. Italy
6. Hawaii
7. The Grand Canyon
8. Alaska

Eight places I've lived: (this will be fun...Dad was in the Navy)
1. Currently in St. Augustine, FL
2. Gainesville, FL (for four years of college at UF...different dorm each year)
3. Jacksonville, FL (grades 10-12, 6-7 and K-1)
4. Charleston, SC (grades 8-9 and my birthplace)
5. Dartmouth, NS, Canada (grades 4-5)
6. Virginia Beach, VA (grades 2-3)
7. Key West, FL (early years)
8. Providence, RI (early years)

Tagging:
Alright, I know I'm supposed to list 8 people to tag. But I don't have that many "followers" on my blog, so I figure instead I'll just say this...if you're reading this message, you've been tagged. :)

Small World

2009-04-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

So many coincidental things lately just remind me what a small world it is. I was on my Facebook page yesterday and saw a pic of someone Facebook "recommended" to be a "friend" for me, and she looked really familiar, like someone I knew from high school (her married name was listed, not her maiden name). It gives you the option of looking to see if you have friends in common, so I checked that out. One of her friends was a mutual friend of ours in high school, confirming that she was the same person I believed she might be. What threw me for a loop, though, was that some of her OTHER friends that we have in common weren't from my high school years, but people I know through my local MOMS Club here in St. Augustine. St. Augustine isn't that far from Jacksonville, where we went to high school, but far enough that not many people make the effort to move down here! Small world. I added her and she accepted my friend request, and we wrote back and forth several times today only to learn that she lives five miles from me, in a condo development that used to be apartments...the same apartment complex Steve and I lived in almost nine years ago when we first moved to the area. Small world!

Also yesterday, I was working at a middle school as a sub for a math teacher when I saw a familiar face as I was walking to my sub assignment room for the morning. She was someone I recognized from her blog, and we haven't been "following" each other very long, but our kids are only a year apart age-wise and I really like reading what she writes. Anyway, I walked into the teacher's lounge for lunch, and there she was! I hope I didn't creep her out too much when I invited myself to sit at her table and then basically said, "I know you!" Small world. I had to assure her that I was not a stalker, and that I'd been booked for that sub assignment several weeks ago, before I ever even read her blog for the first time. :) I didn't even know which school she worked at, since we all have some small degree of anonymity on our blogs.

These two random happenings are just examples, but I thought I'd share them with you today. Seems like it's the little things that make us smile and remind us to count our blessings on a daily basis. In a time when the economy is bad and crime is on the rise, we have to look for the things in life that make us stop and think about how fortunate we really are!

A Well-Rounded Education

2009-03-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

I'm nearing the end of my third week as a substitute teacher, and I have to say it's quite an eye-opening experience. I have taught several different topics so far, including English/Language Arts, Social Studies, and Art. I was even "tricked" into being the In-School Suspension Coordinator for a middle school last week. The computer said it was a Social Studies assignment, so I accepted...and then found out when I arrived that the Social Studies teacher is now the ISSP Coordinator (translation: let's put 11 kids with attitude and behavior issues into one small room the size of a storage closet with no windows and teach them to behave...not likely). I survived, but wow, do I ever have more respect for my parents for raising my brother and I to respect our elders after being so disrespected by the ISSP students. Those kids were obviously testing me, and I get that, but if I had EVER acted like that in school I wouldn't have been able to live it down with my folks.

And today, I taught Math to sixth and seventh-grade students at another middle school. Math, as anyone who knows me well enough will understand, is not my favorite subject. I really do believe that despite my teacher's best efforts, I was just never meant to be a math person. I can compute basic figures in my head well enough. I liked Geometry because it was like a game to me somehow. But where in life will you REALLY need to know that (3+x)/(14-y)=132? I mean, that's fine if you want to be a scientist or a mathematician, but I was just more worried about learning to balance my checkbook. Anything with the word "calculus" in it was just too terrifying for me. But the teacher who called me to sub for her is a friend from church, and I've known her for quite some time...so I accepted the assignment and just hoped for the best...at least it wasn't high school pre-calc or something like that.

Lo and behold, she had an awesome lesson plan all written out for me and all I had to do was follow it carefully. Hand out the assignment, help the 6th graders if they had questions, and make sure the 7th graders didn't talk during their test. It was somewhere about halfway through the day that I realized, "I can totally relate to these kids." Now, I don't think I'm going to run out and get my teaching certificate and specialize in Math, but I had some sort of epiphany that because Math frustrates me, I was really working harder to make sure the students could get a better handle on things. Maybe that will make a difference for them later down the road, even just a tiny insignificant difference.

So subbing is going well. The kids are having a blast with my mom during the day, so that's just another blessing I count among many each time. And several teachers today asked me for my contact information so they could call and request me, so I take that as a positive sign. I don't know if middle school is really my "favorite" age group, since I haven't worked with elementary or high school all that much yet, but it's nice to know I'm doing something right.

Learning Curve

2009-03-04T15:12:00.000-08:00

So my first day as a substitute teacher was Monday, and thank you Meagan for reminding me to give an update! Things went pretty well. Actually, the first half of the assignment I didn't even have students. It's a school that works in four blocks of classes each day and then the blocks rotate every other day. Instead of having seven classes that are 50 minutes long each, there are four classes that are 90 minutes long. Each school will be different, so the trick is to learn to adapt, I suppose.

Since my assignment was for HALF of a day, I was scheduled to arrive at 11:30 a.m. I got there early. Not just 30 minutes early because that's what was recommended by our instructor in orientation, but over 45 minutes early because I had allowed for traffic on 95...not thinking about the fact that there really isn't any rush hour traffic at 10:30 a.m. My mom met up with me to get the kids and take them back to her house, and from there I jumped on 95 and zoomed right up.

I was early enough to get to the main office and check in, and I made it to "my" assigned classroom in plenty of time to meet the teacher I'd be subbing for. That's when I found out that the next class session is her planning period. Meaning no students. Oh, and don't forget a 30-minute lunch break. I was told to take lunch and be back in the classroom by 1:15, since students would be arriving around 1:23 and the final bell for class to start would ring at 1:28.

I went to the cafeteria because (gasp!) I hadn't been on-the-ball enough to grab a frozen dinner from my kitchen, and I was not at all shocked to find that cafeteria food hasn't changed much since I was a high school student. It wasn't terrible, don't get me wrong, and for $3 you wouldn't be able to find much better elsewhere, but I will definitely be remembering to bring my lunch from here on out. There was another sub in the teacher's lounge when I got there and we chatted for a while...but as soon as she found out I was a "newbie" she got a huge grin on her face. She gave me some good, practical advice about how to handle the students in my class. Basically, the rules include things like "Don't let them know it's your first day." Oh, and "Make sure you tell them you will not tolerate profanity in your classroom." Yikes.

I got to my classroom with plenty of time to spare, reviewed the lesson plan the teacher and I had discussed before she left, and then started greeting the students as they arrived. The coursework was simple...some workbook time (grammar) and then an in-class open-book essay quiz on Act One of Othello. Should have been simple. But these kids wanted to talk. A lot. To each other, and especially to the kids who were sitting across the room from them. Fine, I'll mention that in my note to the teacher. I had a good handle on my control and didn't snap, since I'm pretty sure they were hoping I would. I calmly told them that they needed to have the assignment completed and turned in by the end of class. I even walked around the room every so often and discreetly had the "willing to work" students mark a star on the corner of their assignment, so that I could tell the teacher to look for the star if she wanted to know who was really dedicating themselves to their work.

By the end of the class, I was still doing fine. I only had one student who was tardy, and out of 26 that wasn't bad. Out of 26, however, three refused to do the quiz and turned in nothing to show for the day. That was fine...as students turned their essays in, I marked it down on the attendance roster so the teacher would have that on record.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with my first day. I'm glad I did a half day first to give myself that confidence boost I needed. Tomorrow and Friday I have an assignment with a middle school, much closer to where my mom lives. Again, I'm teaching a Language Arts Class, and while I've been warned by several "pro" teachers that middle school is probably the roughest age group, I think I can handle it. And I'll learn from it, too, so that each class I teach will be that much better for all involved. :)

Back to the Classroom I Go!

2009-02-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

So I'm heading "back to the classroom" on Monday...but not as a student this time! I was activated today to be a substitute teacher for the Duval County Public School System. I signed up under an educational staffing agency, and wow, there was a LOT of paperwork involved...but considering the fact that you're working with youth I understand the need to be thorough. My background check was the only thing we were still waiting for, which isn't a shock because those take time. The approval came through today, and I got the call around 3 p.m. that I could begin accepting assignments!

I'm pretty excited about this opportunity. I had debated majoring in Education in college, but I felt like Public Relations was a better fit for me and earned my degree through the College of Journalism & Communications. I don't regret the decision I made, because my PR experience was a great one, too. Now that I'm in a different chapter in my life, I feel like working in schools would be a challenge I will enjoy. By being a substitute teacher I also have more flexibility in my schedule, and if there are specific days where I really need to be home with the kids I can do that by just blocking them on my schedule. My mom is going to help me by watching the kids on the days that I have assignments, so that's a blessing in itself...even at three, childcare for two kids costs a small fortune!

When I got home this afternoon I logged on to the scheduling module we were taught to use at orientation earlier this week. I am currently scheduled for my first assignment this coming Monday. It'll only be a half-day schedule, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m., but I think it's a good way to get my feet wet for a first day. I'm covering a high-school level Language Arts class, and I'm sure I'll blog about my experience sometime next week to let everyone know how it goes!

Cleaning House

2009-02-16T21:20:00.000-08:00

OK, I'll admit it. We've got a "stuff" issue. We have lots of "stuff" that we've accumulated over the years, and only so much house to hold it. We're hoping to wait til April to get rid of a lot of it because my parents' neighborhood does a community sale twice a year...and that's the next one...but I don't know how long the house can hold up. I could swear I've heard groaning of the foundation...especially from the spare room/office/junk room, which is slated to become Jeremy's bedroom down the road when the kids aren't sharing space anymore. And don't even get me started on the garage...I don't recall how long it's been since I've actually parked a car in it.

We're not total slobs, but we're also not "meticulously neat" people by nature, and I've always seen clutter as a sign of a life that's being lived. If I stopped to pick up the toys that are strewn across the living room every time they drove me nuts, I'd be in a padded room before the day was through. The kids are learning (slowly, but still learning) to help clean up. But there's something about a three-year-old's mind that causes severe distraction whenever a toy is picked up to be put away. It's like a synapse just fails to make the connection...and that toy must be played with. Megan has very mild OCD tendencies that we actually crack up about on a daily basis, and she likes things to have a sense of order for the most part. But she's more likely to line up her toys by size and color than to actually put them away without repeated prompting. And Jeremy...bless his little heart, I asked him to put away his cars the other day, went into the garage for a split second to change the laundry out from washer to dryer and when I got back inside he was trying to figure out how to get his shoes on the right feet. He has the best of intentions, but it's almost like a little voice stopped him as he started to tidy up his Hot Wheels..."psst...put the cars down...shoes are so much more fun!"

And I'm just as guilty...I'll start cleaning the kitchen up, reorganizing the pantry or whatever. Somehow I end up putting laundry away in my room instead. Not sure how that happens. I'll tell Steve, "Tomorrow I'm going to get the office organized," and when he gets home he finds me doing a complete overhaul of the kids' bedroom. Hmmm. I guess I know where the kids get it from. :)

I'm going to start working on downsizing my "stuff." I think I have a bag of stuffed animals that hasn't been opened since we moved into this house (ahem, seven years ago). But it's hard to get rid of things that have sentimental meanings, even if you're not opposed to storing them in a plastic shopping bag for seven years! I'll get there eventually. I just hope the foundation and general structure of the house doesn't give out in the meantime!

Happy belated Valentine's Day to everyone...can you believe we're already halfway through February?

God Made Dirt...

2009-01-29T21:30:00.001-08:00

When my children were newborns, we were so careful with EVERYTHING that came into contact with them. I know that most parents probably react the same way...boiling bottles, washing pacifiers every time they fell on the ground, getting a clean burp rag if the one you were using touched the floor in any way...it's a completely natural reaction for first-time parents. After a while, we learned that the world wouldn't stop turning if the binky got dropped. The 10-second rule got implemented after the first couple of months. I'm very glad we got over the OCD attitude early, because as the kids grew and gained the lovely gift of curiousity, it seemed like EVERYTHING went into their mouths. Toys, check. Shoes, check. Feet, check. And not always their feet, either. :)

My mom still freaks out a little if Megan or Jeremy drops Cheerios or something else snack-y on the floor and picks them up to eat them. I don't want them doing that while we're out and about (i.e. public restrooms, etc.), but I don't worry anymore if it happens in our own home. We vacuum regularly, and if I scrambled to pick up every last Cheerio I'd never get anything else done (there's a nice collection trapped in the couch cushions I'll get around to cleaning up when the twins are in college). I've always heard that famous phrase, "God made dirt, and dirt won't hurt." What a relief to get validation on that quote from this article: click here

Silly that I get this excited about an online news article, but it just gives me one more confirmation that I'm not totally messing my kids up!

Life is a Circus

2009-01-25T19:30:00.001-08:00

I do some freelance graphic design work for a web site based in Jacksonville, and from time to time they pass along some free tickets to various events. Since it's a kids' activity web site, that means all of the events are kid-friendly...always a good thing as far as we're concerned! The most recent "donation" to the Lay family was a four-pack of tickets to the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, which was in Jacksonville for a four-day visit. We went on Friday for the 10:30 show and didn't even tell the kids we were going until we were getting dressed and ready that morning.

There is a pre-show before the circus and you are allowed down on the arena floor. Megan and Jeremy walked with us from place to place, visiting with clowns, watching an elephant "paint," being amused by the acrobats and just being in awe. Information overload is pretty funny, especially when you can just see all the questions on their faces but they can't keep up with what they are seeing!

The show started, and we purchased a giant popcorn box from a vendor. Megan ate about 3/4 of it by herself...she was pretty greedy, but that's ok because Jeremy wasn't as excited about the popcorn. :) The show ran pretty long, but the kids didn't get antsy even once. I have to say that the circus people really know how to keep the audience involved and interested, because for these two kids to sit in their own seats for just about the entire performance was very impressive to me.

The best part now is the fact that they are still talking about it. Ask either one what they saw at the circus and you'll get a list, and those cute little voices are too irresistable. "Doggies!" and "Elephants!" and "The funny, silly clowns!" and "TIGERS!" I think they really had a great time, and I'll post a pic or two once they are uploaded from my camera.

Thanks, Alison & Cindy for making this trip possible...we had a day we won't soon forget!

Not a creature was stirring...

2009-01-17T23:21:00.000-08:00

Steve has gone to bed since he has to be up at 4 a.m. for work at 5. The kids are asleep. The cats are in the bedroom with Steve, most likely sleeping. The dog is curled up on the couch with me...sleeping. These are just the most peaceful times for me...I love to spend time with my family, but I really think it's just a natural thing for people to need alone time, too, even just a small amount. It gives you the chance to think, to plan, to dream a little bit. To just relax because YOU are the only one who needs to be taken care of at that moment in time. Then of course your mind takes off and starts racing through all the lists of things to get done, but for a small window of time you get some peace and quiet...not something that's easy to come by with two three-year-olds running wild through the house!

Tonight we went to dinner to celebrate my dad's birthday, which was this past Wednesday. We had dinner at O'Charley's, which is great because kids eat free there (and I'm all about saving money!). Mom ordered a German chocolate birthday cake from the local grocer, and it was so good. I am not even a big fan of that kind of cake, but I enjoyed my little piece. :)

On another note, it's going to be in the freezing category tonight! I think there's something terribly wrong with me as a Floridian...I love the cold weather. I don't know if I'd want to live somewhere that has four months of solid freezing weather, but I really do like it so much better than the hot Florida seasons we get. I love my warm winter coat, and it's in GREAT condition after four years because I only get to wear it for about two weeks each year it seems like. I love wearing layers and snuggling with the kids under a blanket because it's a bit chilly. I don't love the heating bill, but I do love having the heat on in the house because it's so nice and cozy. See? I'm weird. And as much as I'd love to see snow here, I'm thinking it's not the greatest idea...some of the people in the small town where I live freak out driving in the rain, so I can't imagine what they'd do if it snowed...there would certainly be gridlock!

OK, enough rambling for tonight. I hope everyone's having a fantastic 2009 so far...God bless you and those you love!!!

National Champs!

2009-01-09T15:31:00.000-08:00

The Gators beat the Sooners 24-12 last night, as anyone with a television, newspaper or generally attentive mind has already learned. We had a small crowd here in our home, and since the majority were Steve's relatives (Sooner fans), the Gator fans were largely outnumbered. I'd like to thank my friend Alyssa for joining me dressed in orange and blue, my daughter Megan for wearing the Gator t-shirt she didn't have a choice about, and my next-door neighbor Mary for not cheering for the Sooners (even though her sons did). :)

We had lots of food (ate lots of food, too, and still had leftovers!), and it was a fun evening. Of course, I think I had more fun sitting calmly and watching the Gators take the lead. I am very proud of myself though, because I did not gloat over the win. Actually, since I was the only Gator still left in the room at the game's end (neighbors went home at halftime because the kids had school today, and Alyssa went home because she had gotten up so early for work that morning), I didn't boast or brag very much at all. I patiently waited until after my in-laws had left to drive back to Jacksonville before I got even the slightest bit giddy. Of course, writing a blog about how AWESOME the win was doesn't constitute boasting or bragging.

Say it loud, say it proud...it's GREAT to be a Florida Gator!!!

New Year, New Resolutions to Keep (or at least try not to break)

2009-01-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to 2009!

So the tradition is to make resolutions when the New Year rolls around. I have almost always failed at keeping any resolutions I make, because (well, let's face it) we really should be promising to make changes to our lives for the better every single day. Meagan wrote on her blog that each day is an opportunity for a clean slate, and I couldn't agree more. :)

This year, however, I am going to try and do a few things different. I won't beat myself up if/when I don't succeed 100% on any of these things:

I want to try and lose some weight.

I want to get into a better habit for our weekly grocery shopping, including using coupons and getting my meal planning done at least a week in advance.

I want to be more positive.

I want to blog more (because even if only a few people are reading, at least it gives me an outlet!).

I want to find a way to help support us better financially, so that the majority of the burden isn't always resting on Steve's capable shoulders.

I want to appreciate my husband more, because even though I value him I may not always tell him that often enough.

Reminding Myself

2008-12-25T23:52:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to my friends and family, and to anyone else who stops by to read this blog! I hope you all enjoyed a happy, healthy holiday with those you loved. I have a good friend serving in Iraq right now and he posted photos of their Christmas, and every single person in his photos looks happy, celebrating the holiday. Regardless of how anyone feels about the current military climate overseas, I would like to ask that you remember the men and women who are fighting for us, serving our country. And while you remember them, also remember the loved ones they leave home while they travel for service. I grew up as a Navy brat and wouldn't have had things any other way because I believe your life experiences shape who you are now, but we spent quite a few Christmases without my dad at home, and I know it's not an easy task. So God bless our troops, and God bless the families they represent.

That being said, I'm currently sitting on my couch checking email and (obviously) updating my blog. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with my side of the family and a wonderful Christmas Day with Steve's side of the family, and the kids had a fantastic time opening gifts. I prepared a meal for 12 people today, something I don't do on an ordinary basis by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn't the world's greatest meal, but I did it and that's what counts, right? Somewhere in the midst of the celebrations, both yesterday and today, and quite possibly due to the lack of sleep SANTA had last night getting ready for this morning, I started getting a bit down in the dumps. But I have found hope in the reminder that the true reason for the season is Jesus Christ. Who would have ever imagined that one baby could make such a difference in the world? There is a new song by Faith Hill on her Christmas album called "A Baby Changes Everything," and we know this to be true firsthand because our kids have sure changed our lives, but it's such an impressive reminder of why we celebrate. My turkey may not have been very tasty, the potatoes might have been somewhat soupy, my Christmas cards didn't get ordered in time, and I spent 862 hours wrapping presents with Steve (next year, gift bags will be my friends), but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that a baby was born "Away in a Manger" and He brought "Joy to the World."

As my children have stated so ambitiously for a few days now, "Happy birthday, Jesus!"

Here Comes Santa Claus...

2008-12-20T08:25:00.001-08:00

So my kids turned three last week, and I am still somewhat in denial. But at the same time, it's so much fun to watch them develop their personalities even more, and learn about all the wonderful things that capture their interest.

They don't fully grasp Christmas yet, but they know that Santa is a nice man in a red suit with a white beard. I hope they keep that childhood innocence for a while yet, because there really is nothing more amazing than that. We went to visit "our" Santa at the mall yesterday, and it was our third year visiting Santa at that particular location. Here's the results from that visit:

Megan and Jeremy have NEVER been afraid of Santa, which is a very good thing since I took them to the mall by myself and would have been stranded if they'd both freaked out on me. If I can track them down I'll post the photos from the last two years so people can see how happy they always are to see Santa.

Not forgetting the TRUE reason for the season, I wanted to share a story about Megan, who has shown a lot of interest in learning about the real Christmas Story. Steve put up our nativity scenes right after Thanksgiving, putting one in the curio cabinet on the right side of the entertainment center and on in the cabinet on the left side. We also have a snow globe with the nativity in it that I received as a gift years ago, and it's currently sitting on the shelf next to the television. At any rate, they're all behind glass right now. Megan pointed almost immediately and asked what they were, and I explained that we celebrate the birthday of the baby Jesus at Christmas, and He is our biggest gift. She is so enamored by babies and baby dolls at the moment, she took to that explanation pretty well. A few days ago I noticed her walking back and forth between the cabinets, pressing her hands to the glass, and stopping to pat the snowglobe each time she passed it. She was chattering, but I couldn't make out what she was saying completely, so I asked her...and she said, "I tell the baby Jesus it's alright, I'll get him out for His birthday on Christmas..." Poor kid probably thinks we are keeping a REAL baby behind glass!

Say it loud, say it proud...

2008-12-06T22:56:00.000-08:00

It's GREAT to be a Florida Gator!

That's right folks, we won the SEC Championship game earlier this evening. That means Tim Tebow and the rest of the team will most likely be heading to the BCS Championship game!

Now, I'm thrilled. According to Rivals.com, "Two big victories in league championship games Saturday – a big fourth-quarter rally by Florida in the SEC, a big blowout by Oklahoma in the Big 12 – means the Jan. 8 national title game almost certainly will match the Gators and the Sooners." But what most people may not know is that while I'm a die-hard Florida Gator fan (complete with the capability to bleed orange and blue), Steve and his family are from Oklahoma and therefore root for the Sooners.

Steve and I have been together over ten years, married for eight. When we met I was heading into my junior year at Florida. His family has always teased me about my affinity for the Gators, and while it's been joked that someday we would be matched for a championship game, I never really thought it would happen. It should make for a very interesting day on January 8th. :)

Twas the weeks before Christmas...

2008-12-05T17:26:00.000-08:00

So we're officially less than three weeks away from Christmas now. I can't believe how fast the year has gone...seems like just yesterday we were marveling at our newly-turned two-year-olds and in just another week we'll be calling them THREE. Amazing. I'm so blessed to be home with these two little miracles to watch them grow and learn.

Megan's cough is (finally) gone. It took two rounds of the Albuterol treatments, the second time we added Pulmicort, and she had four days of Zithromax, too. I went back to the doctor the day before Thanksgiving because the sinus infection I was seen in the ER for on November 6th had returned full force. I guess I can't really say it returned, because essentially it never really left. Ugh. The nurse practitioner I spoke with at the clinic was wonderful and gave me meds to help kill the infection, which I found out was actually a pretty dangerous one since it was putting pressure on my optical nerve. Yes, I'd like to keep my optical nerve connected, thank you. I have a couple more days of medicine left, but for the most part I'm back in the human world again. Just a slight cough remains.

Apparently Jeremy admired the attention Megan got for her cough, so he now has one, too. The doctor has him on Albuterol now, but since his doesn't seem to be more than just a cough of inconvenience we're going to take the wait-and-see approach before any antibiotics are called in. Should be interesting. I'm beginning to think that the Pediatrician's office should have a punch card...after five visits, you get a free one. I'd certainly partake in that sort of offering!

Thanksgiving was a good one...it went by very quickly and I didn't really do much other than spend time with my family in the early part of the day and Steve's family in the later part of the day. I like to think that we are thankful EVERY day for the blessings we have, but I understand that it is very nice to have the chance to gather together and be grateful in a more "formal" way, too.

Well, nothing else new or startling at the moment...take care and keep in touch!

Toddler Trials

2008-11-17T16:11:00.000-08:00

Megan has come down with a nasty cough that shows no interest in leaving her alone. The coughing started last week, near the end of the morning on Friday. Of course, it was a mild cough, and I didn't think anything of it at that point. By last night, I knew it was getting worse, and then this morning she woke up hacking and I immediately called the pediatrician's office to get her an appointment today. At least it didn't get really bad until Monday, so the doctor's office was open again. :)

We didn't see our regular doc, as I requested to see the first one available (out of the three in the practice...we like all three just fine). He listened to her chest for a few minutes with his stethescope, prompting lots of giggles from the princess girl, and told me that he could hear a light wheeze when she breathes. Jeremy had respiratory issues when he was about four months old, and so we're quite familiar with wheezing. We don't like it, but it's not such a "scary" term when you've dealt with it several times before!

Luckily we already have a nebulizer from Jeremy's earlier battles, so all it took was a script for Albuterol. The nebulizer looks like a penguin, and now the kids are old enough to really appreciate this fact. :) We did our first treatment before the kids took a nap today, and she handled it like a pro. If she's not showing improvement by Wednesday afternoon, the doctor said we'd have to figure out what Plan B is.

I was hoping to visit a few friends this week, but those plans will have to be rescheduled. Megan and Jeremy are my first priority, and we certainly don't want to cause anyone else to be sick (even if she's not contagious...we're not taking chances!). Please pray that I can find lots of things to occupy the kids this week. And lots of strength to keep healthy myself, too!

Night Shift

2008-11-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

Steve is back on night shift. He switched back about two weeks ago, and will stay on nights another six weeks. I still wish the Sheriff's Office would consider a quarterly schedule, because by the time we are fully adjusted to one shift, it's time to make the switch again! Oh well. After five years, I've gotten used to it. I know he loves night shift because there are more interesting things to do while on duty, but it also means we don't see him half as much. The kids are usually down for nap when he wakes up in the afternoon, and when they wake up he's already gone for work, so he goes for two or three days at a time sometimes without seeing the kids. He stopped by during his shift last weekend, just for a few minutes so that they could visit with him, so at least he can do that once in a while!

I'm a night owl anyway, so nights don't bother me. I catch up on my recorded shows on the DVR, I get work done on the computer, I read a book...there are always things to do. Maybe one of these days I'll get some sort of motivation to use more of that evening time to work on de-cluttering the home office, which has taken on its own life at this point. :) Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Things To Do...

2008-11-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

I have a things-to-do list a mile long at the moment, and I have to really find ways to motivate myself to get it done. The house was so clean just last week. It's not filthy now, but the clutter is back in the living room and kitchen. I need to get groceries soon. The kids have a pile of laundry that needs to be folded and put away. And we still have Halloween decorations out! Those definitely need to be put away!!!

So I have to get some catching up done. That includes this blog! We took a quick trip down to Orlando and stayed at Disney's Pop Century Resort...they had a GREAT rate for Florida residents, so we took advantage of it (and also used the third day of our four-day Disney passes...only one more day to use before the end of the year). We went to Animal Kingdom, and I have to say that I really liked the park. It was much more laid back than your average Disney park. I'd definitely recommend it to others. We got to see the Lion King Show and the Finding Nemo Musical Show. Very well done, both of them. And the highlight, of course, was getting to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald at the end of the day. That was one of my missions, since the kids didn't get to really meet many characters in July. Here's a fun shot of all four of us with "The Mouse" himself...Of course we returned back to reality when we got back home. And then reality was suspended again on Halloween...we dressed the kids up in their costumes (again...they got a lot of use this year!) and took them Trick-of-Treating around the block in our neighborhood. This is my favorite shot of that evening:
Don't they look like they're enjoying each other? I'll keep this photo to remind them of how much they really do like each other so that when they're older and arguing like wildcats I'll have proof. :) They wore their costumes four different times this year...to the library, to Sea World for the Halloween Spooktacular on our first day in Orlando, to the nursing home with the Moms Club and then on Halloween night. Megan has convinced herself that she really is a princess. And if you hear Jeremy quoting Buzz Lightyear, you can't help but chuckle.

So Halloween is long over. I still have to get the Halloween cookie jar off the kitchen counter, but at least my blog is caught up again. :) With luck I'll be better about writing and you won't just hear from me at Thanksgiving and Christmas...there's life between holidays, as well!

Have a great rest-of-the weekend!!!

Tag, You're It!

2008-10-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

A survey about me...thanks, Meagan!

10 years ago: I was halfway through college, in the midst of my junior year at Florida. I had met and started dating Steve just three months earlier. And I was coping with the loss of my grandmother, who was my 2nd mom.

5 things on today's to do list:
1) get the kids up and feed them breakfast
2) laundry
3) digital ads for jax4kids.com
4) possible grocery shopping
5) try to get some organizing done in the garage (should only take about 10 more years)

Snacks I enjoy: I have a terrible sweet tooth, so basically anything that is NOT "good for me." Chocolate is always my friend.

5 things I'd do if I were a millionaire:
1) Invest half in a high-yield savings account so I could make it grow with interest!
2) Donate a nice portion to a charitable foundation or organization.
3) Pay off ALL of our bills (car, house, student loans, etc.).
4) Tuck enough away to cover the kids' college expenses.
5) Help out our parents and family members with their bills, too.

Places I have lived:From birth: South Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire, Florida, Virginia, Nova Scotia (Canada), Florida, South Carolina, and Florida (Dad was in the Navy...we moved a LOT).

Jobs I've had:
1) Babysitter
2) Tutor
3) Ice Cream Scooper at Dippin' Dots
4) Public Relations Specialist for a hospital
5) Mommy

Meagan tagged me to share this, so now I pass the challenge on to anyone and everyone who reads my blog. I know there aren't that many, so it should be interesting to see how many actually do it. :)

Fall is in the air...

2008-10-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

OK, so we live in Florida. Fall isn't in the air here until closer to Thanksgiving...or sometimes even Christmas! :) Steve likes to tell people that in Florida we have two seasons: Summer, and Summer-Lite.

At any rate, it's getting closer to the end of October, and that means HALLOWEEN! The kids are really excited this year, probably because they understand more about dressing up and playing pretend than they possibly could have last year. When I chose their costumes, I brought them home from the store and they tried them on. They were SO excited. Ariel (from the Little Mermaid) is one of Megan's favorites, and Buzz Lightyear is Jeremy's hero. He constantly runs around the house saying, "To infinity, and beyond!"

Their first chance to wear their costumes outside the house was this past Thursday at one of the local county libraries. The library held its annual "Unscary Halloween Party," and we went with my mom and my niece, who is only 6 weeks younger than Meg and Jeremy. We all had a lot of fun, and it was a nice way to make a test run of their costumes before it's Trick-or-Treat time. Plus, Aunt LaLa is one of the youth librarians at that library branch, so we got to see her, too!

Walking For A Cure (Part 2!)

2008-10-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

I was asked to follow up on my walk for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer with the American Cancer Society. The walk took place last Saturday, October 11th. There were more than 2,500 walkers on the beach that morning, and it was so awesome to see so many people all there for the same reason.

My team was "Katie's Pampered Pals," associated with the kitchen product company I'm an independent consultant with. :) My parents walked with me and the kids (in the photo above they are pulling the kids in their wagon...truly the worst idea my dad and I could have come up with, since it was SO heavy to pull that across the sand in certain spots). My friend Alyssa (aka Aunt LaLa to Megan and Jeremy!) also walked with us. The storms were trying to roll in but it didn't rain on us!

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive about this effort. I'm still collecting money through the end of this month (October), so let me know if you're interested in making a small donation.

Walking for a Cure

2008-10-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

The kids and I are participating in the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk this Saturday. I'm excited, but a little disappointed in myself because I haven't really put the effort into the pre-walk activity that I should have/planned to. I haven't raised much money. I haven't done iron-ons for t-shirts so that the people I'm walking with have matching shirts of some sort. I know I can always do better next year, but since this is my first year doing this particular walk I was hoping to be more prepared than I am.

On a positive note, my mom and dad are going to be walking with me and the kids. I have a couple of other friends who are (hopefully still) planning to walk with us. It takes place at the beach in Jacksonville, and we have to be there at 8-something in the morning because the walk kicks off at 9. It's less than 3 miles, definitely not a marathon, and I can walk the whole way...no running for me.

I am fortunate that I have not had anyone in my family go through the horrors of breast cancer, but the future is never certain. Some very good friends of ours are dealing with this in their family at the moment, and the lady who was diagnosed recently had a double-mastectomy performed. Their whole family has really been an awesome testament to the power of hope, and it's given me so much purpose in what this walk will represent.

We also are already planning to be involved with the St. Augustine Relay For Life again in May of 2009. Steve and I are hoping to spend the entire 18 hours at the track again, something we haven't done since the Relay right after the kids were born and my parents kept them at their house for us. For more information about the American Cancer Society and all of the services and programs they offer, visit www.cancer.org!

TGIF

2008-09-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

I don't know exactly what it is about Fridays that just makes me HAPPY. I love Fridays. I stay home with the kids full-time, I have NO mandatory Monday through Friday obligations (just freelance work and business stuff that I can schedule around my family), but there is just something wonderful about Fridays. Maybe it's because I know all of my friends who work full-time outside the house are (mostly) off on the weekends. Steve and my brother are both cops, so that rule doesn't apply to them. But every OTHER weekend Steve's off. I love those weekends especially.

Anyway, this is one of Steve's work-all-weekend weekends. We won't be seeing much of him. He was three and a half hours late getting home from work tonight because there was a call right at the end of his shift and he didn't feel right turning it over to the oncoming shift since he was already involved. Times like those don't frustrate me (often), because I know he has an important job to do and that he does it so well. I miss him, but then I think back to the fact that he was off Wednesday and Thursday this week. And will be off Monday and Tuesday next week. :)

Another good thing about Friday is that my friend Debbie has a work schedule that gives her Fridays off. She lives in Gainesville and had been planning to drive to Jacksonville to visit her mom and wish her a happy birthday in person, so we made arrangements to have lunch, just me and her and my kids. She's expecting her first child in February, just found out it's a boy, and it was so fun to see her interact with Megan and Jeremy. She's always loved them to pieces, but I think now that she's expecting a baby of her own they really take on a whole new level of interest for her. She looks great, barely even showing, and it's going to be so fun to watch her go through the rest of her pregnancy and become a fantastic mommy to this sweet little boy.

Well, I'm out of rambles for tonight. Until next time, have a GREAT weekend!!!

Funny Sunny Days

2008-09-24T18:50:00.001-07:00

Steve's working this weekend, Friday through Sunday, which means he was off today and tomorrow. Kind of a mid-week, weekend-replacement time. :) I don't mind. Weekends are usually easy enough to fill, because there are so many things going on, other family members are off work, and I can always find something to do to keep the kids occupied. Having Steve home on a weekday is just one more reason I'm grateful to be home full-time with the kids, because we can really treasure the time we get to spend together.

We basically just stayed close to the house for most of the morning, and then took the kids to the park to play for about an hour before we had a late lunch back at home. We took a bag of almost-old bread with us and fed the fish from the dock at the park. Megan mastered the art of breaking the slice of bread up into small chunks and tossing it in for the fish to gobble up, but Jeremy was just as thrilled to chuck the whole slice in and watch it float away. The fish didn't seem too interested in a big piece, so it was kind of funny. Nothing we did or said could convince him to break the bread up into little pieces. :)

We are now nearing the end of September, and today was a beautiful example of the weather that (hopefully) awaits us in the months to come. Mid-seventies, blue skies, nice breeze. I'm not in enough denial to believe that we won't have ninety-degree temps back sometime in the next week or so (this is Florida, after all). But just for today it was nice to pretend that the cooler weather was coming.

My favorite thing about going to the park is that the munchkins are completely exhausted when nap time rolls around. Always a good part of the day for me! I got the kids down for nap and Steve used their nap time as a chance to run to Jacksonville to pick up some equipment for work...leaving me a full two hours to read a book and just sit on the couch and relax. I should have done some dishes or laundry or cleaned up the clutter in the home office, but I opted to use that time for myself instead. And the great part is that I don't even feel guilty...it's little things like taking time for yourself that can keep you sane in a silly, zany world.

My Addiction

2008-09-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Katie and I'm a scrapaholic.

I have been dealing with this addiction for roughly six years now. I have an uncontrollable urge to buy pretty printed 12"x12" paper for no given reason. I find it fun to think of ways that I can take photos of my kids to MATCH the paper I already have (as opposed to buying paper that matches the photos I already have...). Stickers are fun. There's just something about a sticker that screams "Buy me!"

OK, so I'm not really THAT addicted, but I really love my once-a-month crop nights. I get together with a group of ladies who are suffering from the same complications of the craft...too many photos and not enough time to scrapbook them all. I'm currently plugging away at scrapbooking our Disney vacation. Last night I scrapbooked six pages, bringing my grand total (for my Disney album) to 16. The album I have for this collection only holds 20 pages as a standard, but I am determined to find a refill pack to bring the capacity up to 40. I'm hoping to have the darn thing done by Christmas. My kids' baby albums may not be done until they are graduated from college, but gosh darn it, my Disney album will get done someday soon!

I am completely infatuated with digital scrapbooking...it's less complicated, it's a lot neater as far as journaling goes, and I don't have to drag out all of my supplies to work on a book...I just have to turn on my computer. But it's so nice to just spend an evening out once a month with this group of women, to chat about what's going on in our worlds and what our kids are up to these days. Being able to use whatever creative juices I can muster brings a sense of accomplishment. My scrapbooks might not be the prettiest, or the most clever, but to me, they are a way to tell my story. I want my kids to look back one day and think, "Wow, that looked fun." Because realistically, they're more likely going to forget most of the memories from their earlier years.

Anyway, I have another month to wait until my next crop night. I'll try to be patient. I might even try to organize my supplies to help make it easier to work when that evening rolls around. :)

What Goes Around, Comes Around

2008-09-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

All too often this is a phrase that is looked upon in a negative light. But I've been observing my kids lately, and I've come to the conclusion that it can also be positive more often than not.

Megan and Jeremy have been the best of friends since day one. In honesty, they haven't had much choice! They haven't spent more than a few hours apart ever, occasionally split up for doctor's visits or trips to the grocery store. But the bond they share is not one of obligation. It's one that can only be shared by siblings. Don't get me wrong, they have their fair share of spats and quarrels. They don't always respect each others' personal space or state of mind as much as I would like. It warms my heart, however, when they sit close together on the couch, heads huddled close to discuss a favorite book and point at pictures. Megan, who tries to be the little mother to Jeremy, will actually put her arm around him and draw his head closer to hers because she has seen him cuddle up with me or Steve, and she wants the same affection from him.

When they play (most of the time, anyway), there is a common sense of purpose. They pull all the food out of the drawer of their play kitchen, haul their kid-size plastic table over from across the living room, and take turns serving each other a "meal." They pretend to eat the (plastic) food they're served, say "please" and "thank you," and then chatter like they're sharing some important information about their day.

Lately they've been drawn to their alphabet blocks even more than ever. Since they've been identifying letters for almost nine months already, they play games by asking each other where a certain letter is. They even give each other a high-five when the letter is located. :)

It's days like those when I sit back and think about everything that we've been through to get to this point. I miss my old job, miss the people I worked with and the responsibilities I had, but NOTHING compares to the satisfaction of knowing that I am raising my kids full-time, and raising them to know the value of love, respect and appreciation for each other and others. Children truly do learn what they live, and it gives me hope that my children will continue to grow into kind, compassionate and generous people.

Where has summer gone?

2008-08-18T15:03:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that it's been more than three months since my last post. It seems like the summer just flew right by...for a while, I was in shock that June was already gone, then before you know it July had joined it and we were stumbling into August. So here we are. It's "back to school" time in St. Johns County, and while my kids aren't school-aged yet, there are plenty around us who are. My niece started middle school today, my nephew had his first day of Kindergarten today, and my brother- and sister-in-law (16 and 15 respectively) are in their junior and sophomore years now. Craziness. They're all in Duval County...St. Johns County schools don't start here til Friday.

We are currently waiting for the arrival of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay. She'll make landfall on the southwest portion of Florida tomorrow afternoon, and will then make her way across Florida almost on a direct bee-line to us. Lots of wind, plenty of rain, and tons of boredom here at our house...the poor kids don't like being cooped up, but there won't be much choice this week. Steve is scheduled for beach duty tomorrow, and regular shifts on Wednesday and Thursday night, so even if he's not called in for help during the storm, he won't be here much. I will have to dig out some more of the kids' new toys from their room to break up the monotony. We still have gifts from their birthday last December that we've been saving for "a rainy day," and I think this week might be the appropriate time to release them and replace some of the older toys!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we had a fantastic family vacation to Orlando at the end of July. We usually make a trip to Orlando to coincide with either my birthday or Steve's (we went to Sea World in February and last July), but this time we stayed THREE nights instead of just one. A real vacation! We didn't overplan, but thought about little things like snacks and juice boxes and bottled water to help keep our costs as low as possible. We had such a great time...I can't even begin to tell all of the awesome pieces that are put together to describe it. Megan and Jeremy were in awe...we went to Hollywood Studios on my birthday (the big 3-0!), then Magic Kingdom the next day, then Sea World on the third day before heading home. Sea World has the Sesame Street gang visiting this summer, so we had breakfast with Elmo and friends that morning. A very reasonable cost for a very rewarding experience...Jeremy wasn't quite sure what to think when the characters came around to the table to visit, but Megan was just completely blissful about the time spent with furry monsters and giant birds.

Busy Days

2008-05-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

I find that I have to really make a better effort to do all the things I need/want to do these days. I have a problem saying "no" to anything. I have to remind myself often that I am NOT Wonder Woman, and therefore there is no humanly possible way I'm going to get everything accomplished like I might hope. This is not an easy thing to admit, but I'm hoping that by writing it in my blog, I might read back on it from time to time as a reminder to myself.

The kids are my first and central priority, and always will be no matter what else I take on. They are such a joy to be around, even when they do their best to drive me batty, and I can't imagine what my life was like before them anymore.

Megan and Jeremy are basically on the same level for most things, but Megan's increasing her vocabulary by leaps and bounds these days (Jeremy is doing fine, just doesn't have the sense of urgency Megan has when it comes to learning new words). Today, when I put their PB&J sandwiches and banana slices in front of them for lunch, Jeremy said, "Thank you, Mommy!" and when I asked him if it looked good, he took a big bite and said, "Mmmmm..."...meanwhile, Megan is sitting calmly in her chair, takes a dainty bite of a banana and says (I kid you NOT), "Yes, Mommy, this is delicious!" I nearly fell over. It's not that I'm shocked that she's learned how to say a word like delicious, it's the fact that her timing and intonation were just perfect with using the word.

I know that sometimes I have doubts about my parenting skills...I don't know many parents who don't feel this way sometimes. Especially during the temper tantrum fits that they just LOVE to throw (especially in public, when most of the time they are perfect angels...it's like they wait until a big crowd is around and then they just opt to turn into wailing, screaming shells of their former selves). But I always feel a sense of security when one of them comes running to me, without being asked, and tells me that I must give a hug or a kiss. Jeremy climbed up next to me on the couch yesterday, held out his arms and gave me a big smacker on my cheek when I thought all he wanted was a hug...then he got down and went right back to the toy cars he had been playing with. This makes me feel so good, because I know I've done at least that much right. They are in a loving home and are learning that showing affection is not only a good thing, but a wonderful thing. I think a lot of it is just part of their nature, since there are always going to be kids who like cuddling more than others, but I like to try to take just a little bit of credit for that. One of the biggest challenges most twin moms discuss is the fact that when you're trying to care for two infants, you always fear that you're not giving them enough physical contact, enough hugs and cuddles and kisses and attention. Making sure two babies have clean diapers, full tummies, and good amounts of sleep...well, that basically takes enough out of you so that the "extras" like cuddling for hours and just holding them is more of a luxury. Steve and I were really lucky that we had as much time to offer for that as possible, but deep down I worried it wasn't enough. Now that I see both of them are so loving and open to signs of affection, I don't worry anymore. At least, not about that stuff! There are plenty of other worries that come along with raising kids these days. :)

Well, I'm thinking that I should close here and get some shut-eye before I keep rambling incessantly. Next time I'll try to blog with a little more focus, so I can make sense of whatever I write about!

"Back" In Action!

2008-04-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

I saw the specialist back in March, and this past Friday was my follow-up appointment. He had given me three options at my first appointment with him...1) have the surgery. It would have meant immediate pain relief, but there was an increased possibility the injury would recur. 2) get epidural pain blocks, which would help with the pain for a week or two at a time while I waited for my back to heal on its own. 3) just wait it out, staying on the pain meds that make me feel yucky. Apparently this type of back injury is fairly common, and 90% of them heal on their own with no surgical intervention...thank goodness!

So at my appointment on Friday, the doctor basically told me that according to my remaining symptoms and the walking test he gave me, I'm on the mend. Not 100% yet, but that might take a few more weeks or a month still. I am relieved, because if I had gone through three extra weeks of pain and then needed surgery, I would have been very disappointed. The pain meds made me feel so muddy that I finally just stopped taking them about a week and a half ago...they weren't actually "helping" me heal, especially since they made my head foggy. And the pain was minimal compared to what I had gone through just a month ago.

I am going to continue to be careful, since the last thing I want is to put my back out again anytime soon. For example, I'm learning to just let the kids climb into their carseats instead of lifting them in all the time (which is a much quicker and more efficient way, but I need to let go of that!). It's sometimes difficult to look at them and not think of them as still being "babies," since to me that's what they'll always be. I am so glad I'm a photography nut and that I have hundreds (if not thousands) of photos of them from birth til now. That way I can always look back and remember all those "little" moments. :)

Well, time to get lunch made and get some cleaning done around the house. Time flies, especially on a Monday when there's so much to do and no motivation to get it all done!

Severe Back Pain + Two-Year-Old Twins = No Fun

2008-03-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

My back pain has gotten progressively worse...I've never had a great back, but this particular case has been going on for three weeks now. I've been seeing an urgent care physician for the time being, hoping that anti-inflammatory medicine would bring down the problem and ease the pain from what we thought was just regular ol' sciatica. Wrong! The doctor was concerned about the fact that pain was radiating from my back and shooting down my left leg, so he recommended an MRI. I had that MRI today, and went home afterward thinking I'd hear something from my doctor in about 24 hours, since that was the "normal" window of response according to the MRI tech who did the scan.

Wrong! Apparently, when you have a REAL problem, they really do call you as soon as possible. The report from the scan was forwarded to my doctor almost immediately, and his nurse called me less than two hours after I had finished my scan. Nothing like a quick response to just set you off. I've known her for more than a few years, since she used to work for a doctor's office located in the hospital where I used to work, and she's very good to me. She doesn't believe in wasting time on fluff, and she prefers to get straight to the point when it comes to relaying information, and I am SO grateful to her for that.

Anyway, the MRI showed several things happening. First, typical wear and tear that everyone gets. No surprise there. Next, I have a protrusion a little higher up from my sciatic nerve. I have to get more details, but that doesn't seem to be causing too much trouble at the moment. The main culprit is an "extruding fragmented disc" that is currently pressing on my S1 nerve root (sciatic nerve). I guess all you have to do to get me worried is tell me that there's something fragmented in my back. That just doesn't sound very promising.

The doctor is referring me out to an orthopaedic specialist, someone who has experience with spinal issues. Whenever I can get in to see this specialist, he or she will discuss my options. I'm not keen on the idea of surgery, which is what a friend of mine went through for a similar problem last year, but if nothing else will work I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I'm holding out hope that something non-surgical will be an option for me, something like Physical Therapy or some epidural nerve blocks, or anything that involves relieving pain and providing ease and range of motion.

I'm currently walking around with a halting gait, and it's not very comfortable or friendly-looking...bride of Frankenstein is more my speed, apparently. Steve just started back on night shift tonight, so I'm back to being on my own with the kids half of the week again, not to mention during most days since he is now officially nocturnal again. I don't mind taking them places to play like the playground, since they are old enough to know how to behave (9 times out of 10), but I still worry that somehow this will affect them. I want to be healthy again, to be able to pick them up without fear that my back will scream in rebellion, to be able to sit on the floor and play with them without wincing in pain. I really think that they can sense that I'm not well, and the other day when I was lying on the couch trying to get comfortable, Megan brought me a blanket and covered me and kissed my forehead. I have angels for children (at least most of the time!).

Whoa...it's March...

2008-03-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Wow. I cannot believe how long it's been since I last posted! I would love to say that my life has just been filled to the brim with new and exciting events and activities, but the only thing new is whatever the kids are up to these days. I just do my best to keep up with them! :)

The kids turned two back in December, and two weeks later they promptly began identifying the letters of the alphabet. They don't know the alphabet in order from A to Z, but ask them what any specific letter is (seriously, it's like a game to them now) and they race to see who can yell it out first. It actually freaked me out a little, and then I got used to it. They have really picked it up from Sesame Street and Word World on PBS, so I can't even take credit for it. I guess I'm just amazed and thankful at the same time, since twins tend to be a little delayed on certain aspects of development...at least I know they shouldn't have much trouble with learning to read later on. It's funny though...Megan and I went to the doctor to check on a minor issue, and while we were waiting for the doc to come into the exam room, Megan was reading me the letters in a book (not the words, just the letters). The doc walks in and just gapes, mouth hanging. Very calmly, she turns and says, "How long has she been doing that?" She was even more shocked when I told her they were both doing it, and very clearly. Like I said...can't take the credit, but I sure am proud of them.

Megan has gotten very sure of herself, and sometimes the confidence she has borders on snottiness. She woke up from her nap yesterday and informed me, "Mommy, I would like Word World." I told her I was watching the news, and that we would watch it later (I record it on my DVR to keep it close at hand) and she smartly replied, "But MOMMY, I would LIKE Word World!" Sheesh. Jeremy does pretty well holding his own with her now, so I no longer worry that she is going to boss him around the house as much. He's a dancing fool...we took the kids to Sea World for Steve's birthday at the end of February, and in the lobby of our hotel there was a one-man music presentation, and Jeremy boogied in front of the stage, all by himself, for two whole songs before we dragged him away to give the poor musician his spotlight back. :)

Time for me to try to get to sleep. Take care and keep in touch!!!

Long Overdue...Time To Catch Up!

2008-01-20T22:08:00.000-08:00

Wow, so it's been a while since I blogged...just checked and I haven't done this since right around Thanksgiving! Much has happened since then, but then again, would I expect different? The kids turned TWO, and I'm still in denial about that on some level. I'm grateful to see them growing and thriving and learning, but it's difficult because while they'll always be my "babies," they really aren't BABIES anymore.

I didn't realize that kids could learn letters and numbers so early...for the last two months, Megan and Jeremy have been counting to ten, pointing out numbers in the most random places, and identifying letters, too. We're still working on memorizing the alphabet song, but they can both pick up any block in their collection and tell me exactly what is on it. Jeremy has a partiality for "J", "U" and "8", while Megan changes her favorites on a daily basis. :) They also love it when you wear t-shirts or sweaters with letters and/or numbers on them, so that they can carry on a vibrant discussion with you...repeatedly...even when you really don't feel like talking about the subject. I wish I could take credit for a lot of it, but the truth is that I have Sesame Street to thank for most of it!

Getting ready for Christmas was a LOT of fun. They aren't scared of Santa at all, so I got my now-traditional annual photo of them with Santa at the Regency Mall in Jacksonville. It also turned out to be one of the few good photos I got of them in their pretty Christmas outfits, so it's definitely a keeper for memories ahead. :) The photo is posted above.

The weekend after their birthday (Dec. 13) we took the kids to see Sesame Street Live at the Times-Union Performing Arts Center. It was a great experience, and the seats we had were amazing...way down front, almost close enough for Megan to climb onstage and join the fun (thank goodness she didn't try).

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent with family and that was great...even better when I can wake up on Christmas morning at a late time, since they aren't old enough yet to understand the thrills that wait for them. We even had breakfast before the unwrapping of gifts began, so that was amazing in itself. 2008 will be completely different, I'm sure!

The kids and I welcomed the New Year together at home, as Steve was working. I felt bad, but turned down several offers from friends who wanted to come hang out with us...I just didn't want to risk them having to drive back home after midnight, when goodness knows how many inebriated people are running the roads at the same time. I wasn't at all alone, and that is what mattered. The kids didn't understand why they were up so late, but it was fun nonetheless. :)

I keep busy these days chasing after the little munchkins, writing occasionally for the local newspaper, and taking care of my still-new Pampered Chef business. It's going pretty well...I really enjoy the products and especially the recipes, since they make my life a little easier. I made a barbeque chicken pizza for dinner tonight, and it was yummy...but not as yummy as the fruit pizza I prepared for dessert! My friend Alyssa's birthday was last week, and so this was her celebration belatedly. We also had homemade strawberry lemonade, one of my personal favorites. I could drink a gallon of that stuff easily, all by myself. I think it's funny that part of my "business" is going to other people's houses and showing them how to prepare meals for their family, when in reality it's all I can do to get myself together in my own kitchen at home...but I will say that I have been a lot more creative and comfortable in the last couple of months since I started with Pampered Chef. It's not necessarily the tools that I get to use, either (although those do help)...it's more the fact that everything is simplified to prove to myself that I really CAN make nice meals without too much back-breaking effort. The greatest thing about the company is that I can have my own business, with my own hours and my own goals, and it gives me the flexibility to be at home with my family, where I'm happiest.

I will do my best to get back here and post again soon...take care!

Tired...but thankful

2007-11-21T23:29:00.000-08:00

Wow, so it's 2:30 in the morning, and I have yet to get to bed. It's officially Thanksgiving day and I'll be even more thankful after some shut-eye! I just finished making my father-in-law his now traditional pumpkin roll, and I'm beat. I should have started it much earlier in the evening, but I had other things to take care of.
Pumpkin rolls are actually not too difficult to make, but it's the flipping it off the pan and onto a towel and then rolling it and keeping it in one piece that makes it just a bit challenging. I make this for the first time LAST Thanksgiving, and now I remember why I didn't offer to make it again for Christmas...it's an interestingly time-consuming process!
I love spending time in the kitchen, honestly I do. I love it even more when I get to sample whatever it is that I've made as the official taste-tester, but I did not sample this pumpkin roll. It's sitting in the fridge, chilling until tomorrow...er, today. Whatever!
Really quick, I just wanted to say that I am VERY thankful for my family, my friends, and for life in general. It seems like I've been so busy lately that I don't often take the chance to sit and think about just how lucky I am...I have a fantastic husband who understands me more than I understand myself half the time, two FABULOUS kids who are my world, and lots of family and friends who make life so very much worth living.
Must sleep now...take care and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

My Two Elmo's

2007-11-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

So another Halloween has come and gone. Steve and I are very much worried that if we don't find a way to get rid of the bag of candy the kids collected on Wednesday evening, we just might eat it ALL ourselves. I am going to have a nice collection of cavities on my next dental visit, that's for sure. :)
The kids were SO cute in their costumes. They wore identical Elmo costumes, and I've already had someone mistake one for the other (despite the girl/boy difference!), so I'll warn you now...in the photos, Megan is holding her Ernie doll and smiling, and Jeremy is standing in front of the window in our living room grinning his head off. Hopefully that will help lower the confusion level...

Where Has October Gone?

2007-10-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to me...before I had children, time moved relatively slow. But I guess time now moves at the same rate of speed that my children do these days...very, very quickly!!! I can't believe we're almost at the end of October already, but sure enough, November is less than a week away.
I found Halloween costumes for the kids, and half price to boot! I had to amend my plans...they're both going to be Elmo, but I think that this might be the only year that duplicate costumes will be "acceptable," so Steve and I decided we'd just do it. My friend Alyssa gave the kids trick-or-treat pails in the shape of Elmo's head, so they'll be matching top to bottom. :) I will make sure to post some photos once I have some. They're going to look so cute!
For anyone who hasn't already heard, I'm now an independent consultant for an international direct sales company that markets wonderful kitchen products (initials are PC). I've been a big fan of their products for years now, so it was basically inevitable. Through online training and demonstrations, I'm learning everything I can so that I'll be able to put together a very fun and educational presentation. And I've already got two shows booked...yikes! I'm a little nervous, but I think that's normal anytime someone starts a new business. So, if anyone wants to host a party, I'd be happy to help you out...and I would love to show you what the company has to offer! The host benefits are great, and the pricing is actually pretty reasonable.
OK, that's enough of a plug. :) Take care and talk to you soon.

Night Owl

2007-10-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

No special reason for this blog, other than to document the fact that I am the ONLY one in the house awake at the moment. I have been trying to get caught up on some work, and I just looked around and noticed that the dog is sleeping next to me on the couch, and one of our two cats is sleeping soundly on the glider chair to my right. I'm willing to bet that the other cat is in my bedroom, sleeping on the cedar chest next to the window like she always does. I'm also willing to bet that if I were to get up and check, even the FISH would probably be sleeping at this point. I really need to get to bed, but I'll sleep better if I wait just a while longer to make sure Meg's not going to wake up crying again like she did last night.
My daughter has come down with some sort of viral thing. Nothing tragic, but it's caused some inflammation in her throat similar to strep that makes things really uncomfortable for her. She started running a temp last night, right around 101, and after being up with her half of last night I ended up taking her to the doctor this morning. Megan is VERY serious about getting her "beauty" sleep, so I knew that something wasn't right when she woke up screaming and sniffling not once, but twice in the middle of the night. There's no medication that will make it better, and no way to speed it along. The not-so-beautiful truth about viral ailments is that they have to run their course...I just hope that in the process, this doesn't run its course through Jeremy and then me and Steve as well! The good news is that her temp is back down, so the chances of her still being contagious are very low.
On another note, I'm hunting down Halloween costumes for the kids and I don't have a whole lot of time left! I promised myself I would do this weeks ago, but here I am, just over a week before it's time to dress up the kiddos, and no costumes to speak of. I was going to dress Meg as Elmo (her favorite creature of all time!) and Jeremy as Cookie Monster, but I might have to abandon those plans for something more economically sound. I'll keep you all posted on how that works out...until then, take care and talk to you soon!

Anyone have an extra laundry basket?

2007-10-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

So I have a confession to make. Well, not so much a confession, because that would imply that it's something I have tried to hide. And I haven't tried to hide this, ever. But I am in the process of trying to tidy up my house and I despise it. I don't mean that in a "I don't like liver and onions" kind of sense. I mean it in a "what the heck was I thinking when I bought a house?" kind of sense. My husband is going to be spending all day Saturday with the kids because I have a scrapbook thing to attend, and he has invited his family down from Jacksonville to watch football at our house while I'm gone. That means, company.
Now, we aren't complete slobs. We have a place for everything, but everything is just not in its place. So it's my job today to work on getting everything moved around so that tomorrow I can work on the "stash and dash." Oh, come on, everyone does it once in a while. Company's coming, they'll be here in 30 minutes, and you take whatever is left lying around the living room and stuff it in a laundry basket to hide in the office or den or your bedroom closet. I've perfected this art...I just can't disclose how many laundry baskets I've stashed and not unstashed. Steve actually has put a stop to this by telling me I'm not allowed to buy any more laundry baskets, so every now and then I actually clean one out in order to use it for actual LAUNDRY (yet another thing I also despise, by the way). He laughs because whenever I sort out the junk that is in one and come out with a clean, empty basket, he takes a guess at how long it will be before it's "out of service" again.
I told a friend recently about this problem I seem to have, and she said (in that kind, loving way a friend has), "Oh, it can't be that bad. And you have two toddlers, so no one can blame you if your house isn't spotless." Ha! If I could blame the kids for some of the junk that I find lying around, I would. Unfortunately I suffer from packrat-itis, and I'm terribly paranoid of identity theft (since it happened to us earlier this year), so I don't throw much away. We have junk mail that I have every intention of shredding, I just need about a week of uninterrupted time to sit on the couch and feed it to the shredder. I just can't bring myself to throw it in the garbage, for fear that someone will find it and all of a sudden I get a bill for a Mastercard I don't own.
When we had new carpet installed in July, we had to move all of the furniture out of our living room. That also included the entertainment center, which is usually full of knick-knacks and dust collectors. My parents gave me the bright idea of taking them all and putting them up on the plant shelf in our living room, way up high so they couldn't get lost or broken. That was in JULY. I'm very ashamed to say that they're still up there. Come on people, it's October already. What is wrong with me? Hey, at least my folks gave me a good suggestion on where to store them...otherwise they would have ended up crammed into an unsuspecting laundry basket.

Random Thoughts

2007-09-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

So I'm convinced now that Megan would be happier if Elmo was taking care of her instead of me. I can often get her to repeat fun phrases (I love the doggie, I love my daddy, I love Jeremy). But lately when I try to get her to say "I love my mommy," she replies with "I love ELMO!!!" And she truly adds the additional exclamation points. This little lady is completely infatuated with the little red monster. Maybe I'll buy an Elmo costume and she'll love me, too!
No, really, she loves me...I know she does. Probably only because I'm the primary caregiver most of the time, and she knows she has to rely on me in order to get meals, but I'll take whatever I can get! :)
Jeremy woke up from his afternoon nap about half an hour earlier than Megan today, so we got some one-on-one time in before Megan was up and looking for attention, too. He's quite possibly one of the most affectionate children ever. They're both very loving and cuddly, but I think Jeremy would probably prefer to spend the largest majority of his day just sitting in my lap.
I actually had a pretty productive day. Finished writing a story for the paper, set up an appointment to interview someone for another article on Thursday, designed two flyers, and started working on a logo for my friend's new pet-sitting service. I have a LOT to get done this week, but if I keep up my current pace I should be OK.
Time to go raid the fridge and figure out what we'll be dining on tonight. Steve's on night shift for one more week, so it won't be long before he's back home in the evenings again. I hope everyone's doing well...take care and keep in touch.

Pilot

2007-09-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

Most of the people who will come to read this blog at some point are people who know me, but just in case it finds its way to someone who doesn't, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Katie, and my family and I live in St. Augustine, FL...the Nation's Oldest City. My husband works in law enforcement as a Deputy Sheriff for the St. Johns County Sheriff's Department. I worked at the hospital here in town up until our twins were born in December 2005, and then took time out from full-time work outside the house so I could be home with them. I tried my hand at working in an early education center this past May, and things worked out very well until recently when my son decided his biting habit (at school) wasn't going to diminish in any way (in his defense, he only started biting after he started school...it's not a habit he had before that!). As of last week, I'm back to staying home with the kids again...and looking for freelance work to help keep me busy in the meantime!
My children are the lights of my life, the centers of my universe, and the keepers of this castle. My daughter Megan is the older of the two by only 45 seconds, yet she somehow translates those seconds into years. She is the "little mother" to her brother, Jeremy. Jeremy has no trouble allowing Megan to boss him around, and he would honestly follow her to the end of the Earth, content to do whatever it would take to keep her happy. They will be turning two years old in less than three months, and I must admit that I am in denial about that little fact. I am gradually planning out their birthday party for December...not in an obsessive way, but I know how crazy things were with planning for last year, and I don't want to stress out about it by not getting the "easy" details nailed down now (time, date, location...).
I hope that my friends will find this to be a good way to keep up with us...I know that sometimes life pulls us in about 18,000 different directions at once, and the beauty of blogging and using modern technology is that we can keep up to date at any time just by logging on and checking things out. Take care and PLEASE let me know your blog address(es) so that I can return the favor by reading about YOU!