SLEEPovER

with Grandma. For the first time the kids spent the night with Grandma Friday night. I didn't think they would actually stay all night, but they did. They rushed home from school, packed their bags, and were waiting on Helen and Dave at the front door. They had such a good time. I can't believe they are this big. I didn't get a picture of them before they left bc things were so crazy and they were so excited. John and I had a great night of quiet time together. We went out to eat and then shopping. We spent the morning running some errands. I feel like we got a lot accomplished. Whoo hoo!

We ventured out this afternoon to light up Hikes Point ( pathetic...horrible) which was a waste of time. I had been wanting to take the kids to Brown Park (duck park) to see the lights so we headed over there. Here are some great shots I got. The lights on the tall Christmas tree were to music. The kids that it was great. My favorite is the fat snowman. The kids didn't cooperate while I was trying to take those pics, but they are still funny. Tomorrow we are going to help Helen and Dave put their tree up.

Here are a couple of pics from our mommy/daddy date day. Nick and I went to McDonalds and John and Caroline went to Starbucks. It was very interesting bc Nick didn't say anything and CAroline talked John's ear off. Wonder where she gets it?????

Not too much going on here. We are working on many crafts, have lots of presents to wrap, and some more decorating to do. I should have done it today it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Oh well I'll get to it.

Last but not least here is a picture of Nick's room decorated for Christmas. The lights are strung all around the room and he has a tree. They lite up his whole room.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I'll try to post more often.

It'sBEGINNINGtolookALOTlikeCHRISTMAS

around here. We put up our tree today. I'm stressing a little about getting all the decorating done so I started with the tree. The kids wanted to put it up anyway so we did. It has been a very busy weekend. CAroline and myself spent a few hours at the mall today and yes Santa is there. Now I'm just working on cards, ordering some gifts, and watching a movie with the kids.

Ok here is the most exciting thing I have for. This is a movie of Nick playing his drums. It is so funny. He makes these drums everynight on his bed and "practices". Mr. Seibert thinks he has talent. He has asked Santa for a drum set. It is number one on his list. We'll see if he agrees. We found a place that gives drum lessons and the kids play in bands. I really think Nick will love playing in a band. You never know you might get an invitation.

The kids and I have school Mon, Tues and then we are off 5 days. Whoo hoo!

Reportcard Day!

We got our 1st official report card today. The last one was a progress report. Both the kids did great. S= successful, O=outstanding NI= needs improvemet. Caroline got all S's. With an O in music. Nick got all s's with an O in music and an NI in science.

Teacher comments: Caroline continues to make strong progress in all subject areas and is an enthusiastic student. She is a pleasure to work with.

Nick continues to make steady progress in all areas and is an enthusiastic student. Nick just needs to slow down a little and not rush through his work. My expectations for Nick remain high. I admire his energy and enthusiasm.

John and I are very proud and Grandma and Grandpa gave them some money for good report cards. I'm excited about the O in music. I love that they get as excited about music as John and me do. They love Mr. Seibert and he loves them.

Granny saw the derm. yesterday and they are going to wait until after the first of the year before removing the spot. He told her it was more important to fix her eyelids first. She is feeling better about things now. She was worried about Thanksgiving. Aunt Carol and Uncle Danny are planning on moving back to L'burg very soon. Caroline (especially) and Nick are excited about them being here and getting to see them more often.

The kids and I have 3 days off next week that we are looking forward to. I'm hoping everyone stays healthy and we can have a fun 5 days. Ok that is about all from here. We love and miss you all!

ENT says

she would like to wait another month before deciding if Caroline needs to have another set of ear tubes put in. I was so happy I could have kissed her. I was afraid the pediatrician was rushing a bit. Yes she has had 3 ear infections since they took her last set out in August, but it just seemed a little to soon for me. She says this is the age they start to outgrow ear problems and if we could make it through the winter she didn't think she would have any more trouble. She did warm me it might be a long winter though. It has already been a long fall so I think I can handle a long winter. I felt much better after hearing her opinion and talking it through with her. She did tell me if at any point she started having more trouble or I felt they needed to be put back in I could call and they would schedule the surgery. Hopefully we won't need it.

The kids fall festival at school was Sat night. It was really cool and the kids had a blast. I didn't even think about taking my camera. I wish I had. Nick dunked Mr. Seibert (the kids favorite teacher) in the dunking booth and he was very excited about that. Caroline danced in the disco room with her friends from class and they all played lots of games. Each classroom makes a basket to sell in a silent auction. Grandma came and bid on 2 baskets and won. John got into a bidding war with another person for a New Year's Eve package that included seeing Mr. Seiberts (the kids favorite teacher) band play. They are called V-groove and have been voted best jazz band in L'ville for the last 5 years. They are very good. Luckily he got outbid by $10. I didn't take my checkbook in. Oops!

We are back to school tomorrow and I am hoping everyone is better and won't get sick for a while. I've had it with all the sickness. Nick seems to be doing well on the new asthma med combo. Please pray it continues to work.

I did get a lot accomplished last week while we were off sick. Things listed on ebay, basement cleaned, toys weeded through, and my Christmas cards are almost finished. I have never been this far on them this early. Usually I'm still working on them the week before Christmas. Not this year.

That is all from here. Hope everyone is doing well. We love and miss you all! I haven't taken any new pics so I posted my favorite from the park pics we took.

QUICKupdate!

More sickness here....John took Caroline to the dr on Friday and she was diagnosed with a double ear infection. We started an antibiotic. She has been waking up in the middle of the night screaming with pain in her ear. We haven't been to school all week. I took them to the dr on Wed. to hear .....

Caroline's ear infection is worse so we are back to the ENT tomorrow to see about putting tubes back in her ears. Yes you remember correctly she just had them removed in August bc the dr said they had been in too long. Can you believe it?????

Nick has a sinus infection, ear infection, an eczema breakout and an asthma flare up. Whoo Hoo!
They changed his asthma meds a little and we are still on nebs 2-3 times a day. Yes we thought he was growing out of the asthma and we are stilling praying he is and it is just this season that bothers him.

John has been in Tampa, FL this week. He left Tues afternoon and gets back some time Thurs night. I took the kids Tues morning to vote. They were very intrigued by it and actually got to vote too. They had no idea who they voted for they just picked ovals to color. It was cute though. I didn't know they did that.
This weekend we have the Fall Family festival. it is kind of like a carnival we used to have. Including cake walk.

Chris, Beth, and Katherine are in town for Beth's birthday. They are going to Churchill Downs Friday to present a race. They are having a race named after Katherine. So we will be seeing them this weekend too.

I haven't taken any pictures this week bc we have all been sick. I will try to get some this weekend. We got a good update on Reed. His new medicine is working great and he is doing much better. They are visiting DD and the girls in Idaho.

Hope you are all doing good. We love and miss you all!

Happy Halloween!

Here are my very cute trick or treaters! This is my favorite pic from the night. I love the way they are standing and the looks on their faces. They did this on their own. It was a great night for treatin'. The weather was great. We had lots of company that walked with us. Grandma and Grandpa, Jim, Melissa, Lesley, Eric, and the kiddos. Then Jennifer, Ashley, and Charlotte came over when we got back home.

The kids have always been shy about going to the houses, which is why we always just go to the neighbors. This year they were totally pumped and ran from house to house. Caroline couldn't get there fast enough with Nick hot on her heels. John and I laughed so hard. We got tons of candy. Buckets full. Too much. Everyone had a great time.

Here is the crew!

We discovered none of our clothes from last winter fit so we did a little shopping this weekend. Caroline got lots of very cheap stuff at gymboree and Nick got cool stuff at Target. He loves these pants and baseball long sleeve t-shirts. Nothing too fancy. I can't believe how big they have gotten. I guess that is to be expected.

Caroline has another ear infection. This is the 4 or 5 since they took her tubes out. I'm really worried they are going to want to put another set in. She is so hard to deal with after the anesthesia. I guess we will deal with it if is comes up.

We are having a restful weekend playing, watching movies, and resting. We are off on Tues and looking forward to it. (at least Mrs. Potts is- I need a break)

Hope everyone is doing well. Have a good weekend.

Reading, Reading!!!!

Caroline has started reading in the last week. I am amazed at how many words she knows and what she can figure out. Nick has no interest at this point which is ok. He has lots of time.

Sorry it has been a whole week since I blogged last. The week nights are just so busy. I'm glad it is getting dark earlier bc it doesn't seem as busy. It was a good week. We got good news about Reed. The kids had their first field trip, and I got my acceptance letter from Spalding University.

The kids went to Huber's pumpkin patch on Friday. They got to ride the school bus and now want to ride it everyday instead of riding to school with me. Isn't that funny. They would have to get up an hour earlier. Not happening. They got pumpkins from the field and apples. Got to feed the animals. Caroline said she fed the deer. I'm not sure they have deer, but whatever she says. For lunch they had a picnic with their sack lunches. They were both a hundred miles a minute when they got home.

Saturday we went to the Halloween party at the duck park. It was so very cold, and Nick was scared of everything. Wed night will be interesting. Nick is dressing up as a baseball player and Caroline a cheerleader. Here is a pic of them.

After the park we had a birthday party for John. His bday was on Thurs. The kids planned his party by themselves. It was so funny. They planned games and picked out the cake. I think John had a good time.

Today we went to the kids movies this morning and say Spookley the square pumpkin. It was cute. Then we headed home to rest. Caroline started coughing and running a temp last night and got up with it this morning. I'm hoping we can make it through the whole week of school. We haven't made it through many so far.

We got to meet Baby Katherine last weekend and I never posted her picture. She is very cute and fun to hold. They all seem to be doing well. They are coming back next week for Beth's birthday.

I think that is all from here. Hope everyone had a good weekend. Have a good week.

Migraine, Migraine

go away....don't come back another day. I have spent the whole day with a very bad migraine. I painted a desk in the garage yesterday and I think that is why I have one and why it is so bad. Oh well live and learn.

It was a good weekend other than today. We got to meet Baby Katherine and she is gorgeous. I love holding, feeding, and changing newborn babies. She seems to be a very good baby. Beth did pull a "muri" and ask me to lay her down (babywise) so she could get some sleep.

We also went to the schools Pancake breakfast on Sat morning. The cakes were awesome and the kids got to see some of their friends. The funny thing was Mr. Leffert (the principal) was wearing jeans and that seemed to be the talk of the day. How funny kids are. They have heard me talk about not wearing jeans to work, bc he doesn't like them and never wears them to school.

Lots of thoughts and prayers are going out the Uhls' family tonight and tomorrow. Baby Reed will have his EGD in the morning to try to find the reason for his "vomitting" . Our prayers are they find the problem tomorrow so he doesn't have to have any more test. LOts of love, hugs and kisses to you guys.

HOpe everyone had a good weekend.

PS I can't find my camera right now so I will post a pic of Baby Katherine tomorrow.

No more stitches

We went to the dr on Tues to have stitches checked and he told us if they hadn't broken by Thurs I would need to cut them. Well, we did that tonight. After much crying we finally got them all cut. They all came out, but one. Here is a pic of her after removing them.

Right now we are watching news bc we have tornado warnings and strong storms coming through. We did manage to get a walk in before the storms started. Wrapping up another week of school tomorrow and looking forward to a good fun filled weekend.

Aunt Carol has been in the hosp this week due to her heart. Please pray for her. We miss her and wish she was closer so we could visit and hug her. So Aunt Carol we send XOXOXOXOXOXO's from all of us. HOpe you feel better soon. I love you!

New hairdo!

After a small adjustment with Caroline's bangs she headed to school today with no stitches showing. Nobody asked her about them and she was happy about that. We follow up with the plastic surgeon tomorrow morning. She is NOT excited about seeing him again. I will let you know how the apt goes.

Short post today bc we are trying to get to bed and not much going on here. Hope everyone is doing good!

Stitches!

After falling on the playground yesterday at school this is what Caroline looks like.

We spent 7hours in the er and got about 15 stitches. She was not a good patient and it obviously took forever. She is fine and feeling great today. I'm amazed she isn't constantly touching it, but she isn't

After another week of sickness we finally got out of the house today and had some fun. We had breakfast at Denny's (the kids loved it), then home to clean up a little and see Grandma, then to the park for some fall pictures, then toys r' us for a prize for Caroline, then to the driving range to hit some balls. After all of that we came home and watched a little tv, Grandma came over for dinner, then we played Charades for kids. If you don't have this game it is sooooo funny. Try it. The kids play it at school in music.

Here are a couple of my favorite from our photo shoot today.

This last one is my daredevil daughter trying to ride her bike without training wheels. Yes the day after she has to have stitches. What can I say she recovers quick.
Enjoy the pictures! Love you all!

The smell of....

LYSOL!

As I sit at the table writing this lysol is all I can smell. I have sprayed and wiped every touchable surface in this house. I had Nick back at the dr today. He has another ear infection and is still having trouble with his asthma. He woke up at 3:00 am with a headache which freaked me out. Talked to the dr at 5:00am and she said he would need to be seen. NO strep which is good. We are so over the sickness. John spent mon and tues in bed with an URI. So much for our 5 days off. We didn't do anything but lay around and nebulizer treatments. The dr recommended the lysol again even though I had already used it. Hopefully we will be back to normal very soon.

We broke down tonight and went for a walk. The cool air is good for Nick and it felt sooooo good out. Here are some shots I got.

Ok blog is not letting me post pics. I will try again tomorrow.

trophy time

Last night was Nick's last baseball game. Finally, we will get a small break. I was worried about letting him play, but he was very insistent. The team is having a pizza party next tues night at the ball field. He is looking forward to that. They don't give out trophies for fall ball so....John and I bought one last year and we did it again this year. I'm a sucker what can I say. So here is Nick with his new trophy.

I think we might be getting over all the sickness. We have been back in school for 2 days. This morning I couldn't wake the kids up. They were completely unresponsive. Totally freaked me out. The dr gave me medicine for their cough that would make them sleep. We took it Monday night and it didn't bother them. Well Tues night it totally knocked them out. I tried everything this morning to wake them and couldn't. After a call to the dr I had to just sit and wait for them to wake up. They told me there wasn't anything I could do. Needless to say we won't be taking that medicine anymore.

Tomorrow is Tiger Fun Fest at school (field day) so I will be taking my camera and hopefully getting some good pics of the kids. Today they met their 5th grade buddies and made cookies in their classroom for them. They thought that was totally cool. They went out to the playground and played with them. I'm not really sure what the purpose of the buddy is, but I'm sure I will figure it out soon.

Hope everyone is doing well. More to come tomorrow!

Quick update

Just wanted to update everyone on our sickness. I had Caroline back at the dr this morning bc she coughed until 5:00am. She now has a double ear infection and bronchitis. Whoo hoo! Needless to say they both stayed home from school today with Helen and are very grumpy. I went on to work since I have fri, mon, and tues off. Hopefully everyone will be better very soon!

More sickness!

Well after school on Friday Nick got sick. So to the dr on Sat morning we went. He has croup and an ear infection. He has to take an antibiotic and a round of steroids. He is so hoarse he doesn't have a voice, temp of 103, and has slept or laid around all weekend. so not like him. Helen and Dave are going to keep him tomorow. He can't go back to school until he quits running a fever. Caroline is not running a fever, but her cough is horrible and keeps her up at night. Hopefully we are almost done being sick around here. John and I are both ready for a break from the sickness.

I got the best goodie box from Aunt Mel on saturday. Stuffed with these and these. Also some chore cards she designed for me. I suggest you all check out her website and order teacher gifts, holiday gifts, and the notepads. I don't write on anything else. Thanks again Aunt Mel.

Hope you all have a good week. I will be heading back to work tomorrow to my job that I love! We are also off fri, mon, and Tues. For inservice and parent/teacher conference.

Oh yeah! the kids got their first report card friday. The both did great. Here are the comments (which I thought were great) Nick: Nicholas shows a great love for learning and is always anxious to share new knowledge. CAroline: Caroline is progressing well in all subject areas and is an enthusiastic student.

That is all from here. Have a great week.

Well here is your post!

SICKNESS! SICKNESS! SICKNESS!

John and I have been passing a virus back and forth that has kicked my butt this week. I finally went to the dr yesterday and she gave me an antibiotic and told me to rest. Caroline woke up with it in the middle of the night. Temp of 102.6 and nasty cough. I took her to the dr this morning and she can't go back to school until she is fever free for 24 hours. Which could be 3 to 4 days.

My first week of full time work was great, but tiring. I love the room I'm in, the teacher, and the kids. I'm across the hall from my kids which I love. Friday night we had our first family movie night. Not much fun for the adults, but the kids had a blast. We ended up on the playground with Dietrich, Logan, and Nicole. The boys played soccer and the girls played on the playground. I'll let you in on a little secret....I heard through the grapevine that Caroline has a boyfriend and it is either Dietrich or Logan. Logan's mom overheard them talking while they were in the salon getting her hair done. Isn't that funny. I am not ready for boyfriends I can tell you that for sure.

The weekend was very quiet bc I wasn't feeling good. The kids played outside and helped John in the yard. The rest is history. Sickness! That is all that is going on here.

We are alive!

It is 9:40 and I'm still sitting at the table trying to get blogs checked, girl scout forms organized, and figuring out what I'm going to wear to work tomorrow. I absolutely LOVE my job, but let me tell you it is a lot of work being a full time working mom. My days are non stop until late at night. It has been very good for me though. It makes me smile when my kids walk by my door and smile at me during the day. Especially when they are being so nice and quiet and behaving so nicely.

We had a great weekend. We went on our first hike at Bernheim forest. The kids could not stop talking about how much fun it was. Caroline kept saying "this is the best day ever". I got some great pics. I will post more about Bernheim tomorrow bc it is a funny story.

Other than that we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off. But loving every minute of it. I will update more later. We miss you all and love you!

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

is all I can say. I have never felt more at home in a job. Yesterday I was in a Kindergarten class and that was great. I loved it. I had several kids say "I like you Mrs. Potts." They are so excited and eager to learn.

I found out today where I will be everyday. With Mrs. Armstrong's 1st grade class. 1st grade is a lot different than kindergarten but still fun. I was only there a half a day today bc I had a dr apt this morning that took 3 hours. The dr said my leg is healed and I don't have to wear the cast anymore unless I run or play tennis.

Sorry for the short post tonight. It is very busy here and has been a major adjustment for all of us and it has only been 2 days. Hopefully next week will be calmer and more organized.

PS Nick played ball tonight so I think he is on the mend. His chest is still hurting a little, but he can swing a bat. What else is important?

Ready, Set...Oh my goodness!

(This is kind of dorky, but all the big scrapbookers tell you to take your picture like this. I think I need to lose the stripes behind me, but it is all I have right now. This was taken Monday when I worked at school in the morning. So I think this is what my morning and I will look like as a full time employee.) I know kind of cheesy.

Here I go! I start work Wednesday morning. I accepted a long term sub teaching assistant position last week. They told me to be prepared to start next week, but today at orientation they told me to be there tomorrow. I can't believe it took so long then all of a sudden I'm working the next day.

Ok if you haven't figured it out this post is mostly about me. Our "family" plan since the kids were born has been for me to go back to work when the kids started school. Well, that day came August 13. I started looking for a job back in the summer and thinking about what I wanted to do. I had come to a point in my life where I could do almost anything I wanted. Wow! Did I want to go back to insurance, be a photographer, or try to get a job at the school. I chose the school bc it would allow me to be on the same schedule as the kids and still give me my favorite season off SUMMER. The school has teaching assistants in all kindergarten and 1st grade classes. Other classes only have them if they are over ratio. I had to take a paraeducator test and I passed. That is all that is required to be an assistant. This type of job will enable me to be at school with the kids each day and be on the same schedule they are. If they are off I will be off. It is what we call around here a "dream job." If you know me you know 2 things: 1) I have always wanted to be a teacher and 2) I can't stand to be my myself. Well, #1 has worked out. I have obtained a teaching assistant position for this school year. #2 is something I need to work on and plan on working on it.

I have to admit I have spent the last 4weeks crying and being sad bc the kids weren't here instead of taking that time for myself or doing productive things around the house. So now as I sit here I could kick myself for not getting so many things done. Hind sight is always 20/20 isn't it?

Right now I am feeling so many different emotions. I am scared to death, very excited that I actually got my "dream job", and very intimidated. I have been out of the full time work force for 6 years now and I'm intimidated about being a full time working mom of twins. Very active twins too! I'm worried about getting it all done and still enjoying every moment. At this point in my life enjoying every moment with my kids and family is the most important part of life. If you know me you know I feel like I missed out when the kids were babies bc of depression, and the busyness of having 2 babies. Melanie will tell you I used to complain about things that I would give almost anything to do now. Like feeding bottles, baby food, changing diapers, rocking or just holding a baby, chasing a 1 year old, etc. Learn from me and enjoy every minute of it for every day you have bc it goes very very fast.

Hopefully this year will be great and next year will bring a permanent full time position with tuition reimbursement so I can achieve my dream.

So now that I have rambled on forever I will tell you Caroline started piano lessons today and she is very excited about it. She came skipping out of the room and asked when she could come back. Nick is still very sore from his fall. I was very proud of him when he decided on his own to not play ball tonight. (you know he is in pain to not play ball). I am very blessed to have 2 children that love school! I tried to keep Nick home yesterday and he wouldn't hear of it. I don't think I have ever seen kids that love school as much as mine do. They still have a couple of kids that are crying every morning when their parents drop them off. I am very thankful mine are not. They made the transition to school easier for me by loving it.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Ready, Set...WORLD HERE I COME!

Ok not a good day!

This weekend has been very low key. John and I have both still been feeling bad. Nick has had a little of it too. Caroline is her normal self like always. Which isn't good when you don't feel good.

Nick started the day off good by going to play golf with Daddy and Grandpa. I picked him up after about 10 holes and we came home. I was fixing lunch and we were all going to cuddle up together in the living room and watch Fox and the Hound when Nick fell in the bedroom. He proceeded to walk a few steps into the hallway and then fall in the floor. He fainted, peed in his pants and it took me what felt like forever to wake him up. Once he did wake up he wouldn't talk and wasn't crying like normal. What little noises he was getting out Caroline told me his throat was hurting and he couldn't breathe. I quess that is one of the great things about twins. Once he could talk he repeated what she said. Weird huh? Then I found the pee and I totally freaked out. I called the pediatrician who said I needed to take him to the closest er. So off we go in our lounge around the house clothes.

He had xrays of head, neck, and mouth and a ct of head. All came back ok. He is fine now, but this throat is still sore and we have to wake him every 4 hours tonight. I can officially say this is the most scared I have been. After going through all of this he told me he was trying to get something off the bed and fell and hit is throat on the nightstand. Ouch! Which the dr said probably knocked the wind out of him which caused him to faint. I never want to go through that again.

Here is the only picture I have taken all weekend. The er gives balloons and stuffed animals now. Hopefully things will get back to normal around here this week.

Ball pictures!

The Pitch

Theres not much to do out here!
This is what ball players do isn't it?
The slide!

Great pics from ball tonight. It makes for a long night for John and me, but he loves it. Enjoy!

Great news!

Just a quick post as we head out the door for ball. I will probably post again when we get home, but I couldn't wait to share the very good news I received today....I was offered a permanent sub position at the kids school. Whoo Hoo! I'm so excited I could bust. They have several classes that are over ratio which means those rooms need a teaching assistant. I will be in the same class everyday for the entire school year. I'm nervous about going back to work full-time, but excited too! It has not been easy being at home by myself. I will be on the same schedule as the kids which will be great.

Still some stomach bug stuff going on around here, but hopefully it is almost over. That is all for now. Hope you had a great day!

We made it!

Thru our first official day off school. John and I have been sick this weekend so not too much has gone on. I did take the kids to the pool today where it was extremely over-crowded. But we did have a good time meeting up with kids we hadn't seen in a while and playing with others we see often. I think the potts' clan as a whole is glad cooler weather is on the way. John and me are still not feeling 100%, but I am better than he is. That is a first I think. Hopefully tomorrow all will be normal around here.

Here are some great pictures I got today. Enjoy them.

I'm loving (very much) the new camera. Takes great pictures. Next time you visit the above pic will be hanging in my kitchen. It is one of my very favorite. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

OH...I have ordered some notepads and notecards from Here. They are the best. These are the only notepads I use. I"m thinking of teacher gifts to order from her if you have any ideas. It is always nice to have unique ideas. If you have any ideas let me know or you can share with Giggles & Co if you choose Here.

OH one more thing: If you knew me you would know I love chicken n dumplins from Cracker Barrell, but I only eat the small dumplins (not the large) and always tear the chicken apart before eating. Try to figure that one out!!!! Made you lol didn't I????

Have a great week!

Happy Labor day!

Well not so happy around here.... I have been sick since Friday. My mom was supposed to come visit this weekend, but didn't bc I wasn't feeling good. JOhn took the kids to the pool and came home sick himself. Yuck...Yuck..

We invested in a new camera finally. I think John got tired of listening to me complain about loosing mine in the creek. I'm totally lovin' it (what little time I've gotten to play with it). It is this. I can't wait to print pics to see how they look. Here is a pic of Nick I got with it.

HOpefully we will both be feeling better tomorrow and actually get to enjoy one day of our long weekend. I want to try out my new camera.

HOpe you are all having a good weekend.

Baseball begins!

with a 2 1/2 hour practice. Oh my I thought it would never end. Here is my gorgeous boy all ready to play ball!

Good day here! Kids had a great day at school. Caroline had dance and did great she has made another friend there and Lily(girl she made friends with 1st day of school that sits at her table) continues to be an ongoing conversation at home. The next 5weeks are going to be busy with ball, but Nick is very excited. He also did a great job hitting with the machine. That is all from here.

Have a great day!

Happy Sunday!

Well we are getting ready to start a new school week. Nick is starting ball tomorrow night Whew. The next month will be busy playing twice a week.

We have had a great weekend. Friday night we went to dinner and rented a movie and watched it with Doug. Saturday morning we had breakfast in bed while watching handy manny. JOhn fixed pancakes and the kids thought it was wonderful. Nick got a hair cut (a little shorter than momma wanted). Isn't it big boy looking? then we headed off to the pool where we played with the Hoaglands. Church last night and then out to eat with the Hoaglands. Sunday morning the kids and I went for doughnuts, cleaned the basement, laundry, ironed uniforms, and started dinner all by noon. If you know me that is impressive. We swam today with Mollie and Morgan (twins from the pool) and tonight we are having dinner with Grandpa and Grandma. Tomorrow we start a busy week.

Here are the kids cleaned from Friday. They are now earning an allowance for keeping their rooms clean and overall obedience. It is working so far.

You will have to use your imagination on this one, but this is Caroline reading (notice the book is upside down) at the pool.

We made it!

Well we have made it through 10 days of school. The kids have learned so much. Caroline's name was chosen today so she got the morning message. This is a note (message) that she writes to the students every day. The kids have learned that Good morning is the greeting, Love Ms. Hunt is the closing and the middle is the body. Isn't that amazing.

We went to open house on thurs night and I am feeling much better about school. She told me my kids were a hoot and so funny. They are very comfortable and doing great. I can't explain to you how very excited they are every day when they get in the van. They immediately start telling me about their day. Also, we still haven't had crying or not wanting to go to school. They hop right out of the car and off they go. I'm so thankful they love it. I'm sure it makes my life much easier.

I cleaned the kids rooms (gross, yuck, nasty, dirty, etc,). 2 bags of trash and 3 loads of laundry and 3 hours later they are spotless. Dusted, swept, mopped, clean under the bed, organized, closets arranged, the whole thing. I dare anyone to think about messing it up. We incorporated some new rules tonight I'll let you know how that goes. I also cleaned the rest of the house too. Always feels nice to have a clean house.

this weekend we are planning on playing, swimming, and going to the batting cage. Nick got his official call tonight for fall ball. He is playing for the yankees again and is very excited. Practice monday night. Game Tuesday night. Wow that is fast. It is only a month though. After telling Nick about it he insisted on practice at the batting cage bc he will be playing machine pitch. Uncle Jason don't freak out. I've already done it for you. At least this team is 5yr olds. I think it will be ok.

FYI I'm lovin' these right now.
I'll take pics this weekend.

That is about all from here I think. Have a great weekend.

Dara hugged Ali Edwards

Oh my goodness!!!!! Dara is at CHA in Nashville as I type this at a crop where Ali Edwards is. She got to meet and hug Ali. For those of you that don't know Ali is my very very favorite Scrapbooker/artist. I would love to meet her and pick her brain and just learn the creative things she knows. Oh my goodness! I can't believe it. Of course she called me immediately to let me know. You can check Ali out on her blog here.

On to our day. I did much better today. No tears. No going back to bed. I ran errands, cleaned around the house, worked on some layouts and picked up the kids. Tonight we went bowling with the twins from the pool Mollie and Morgan. We had a blast. We met at 5:30 and I looked at my watch for the first time at 7:45. Bedtime is 8:00. The kids, the moms, and the dads all get along great. We will see each other again on Sat at the pool.

The kids had a good day at school except for a couple of discipline things I am upset about, but not the kids. Tomorrow night is open house. We'll see.

That is all for tonight. The pictures from the bowling alley didn't come out. Hope you enjoyed the pictures of Caroline in her wig.