merryCHRISTMAS!

Ok stay with me. I'm not sure how good this picture is, but it took me 2 hours last night and 2 hours today to put it together. Plus a call to Melanie. I'm so very proud of myself. I can't believe I got this far with it. Ok click on the picture above to see the pic bigger. Whoo Hoo! Whoo Hoo! Whoo Hoo!

Ok now for our Christmas. It was very good. You can see above some of the stuff we did. We had a friend over to make cookies, put the tree up, went to a choral performance, opened presents, saw Baby Katherine (got to help give her a bath...my favorite), and many other things.

Santa was very good to both kids. Nick got the much anticipated drums (video below), a remote control firetruck, and a car road rug.

Here is his debut performance.

Caroline received the money machine she wanted, Julie the new American Girl doll (santa had to mail it bc it didn't get here before Christmas...we are still waiting for her), and a video camera. The memory card was full Christmas Day. Sorry, no video of Caroline.

The kids also received lots of presents from other people. We enjoyed time with family and friends. Aunt Carol is on her way home New Years' Day and we can't wait to see her and spend some time in L'burg. We are heading to see Aunt Mel and the boys on Jan 2 and hoping to spend the rest of our break having fun. We go back to school on Jan 8. We want to see Alvin and the Chipmunks and go to the indoor pool for a swim.

That is all for now. I hope each of you enjoyed your Christmas and have a happy and safe New Year.

cabin fever

Things have been relatively slow around here this weekend. Yesterday it rained and rained and rained and snowed (very little) and rained. Nick couldn't take being in the house any longer so he grabbed his rain boots and umbrella and headed out to walk in the huge puddles. He was so funny.

Friday night we spent a full hour at Wal-mart spending gift cards the kids got in the mail from Aunt Carol. Thank you Aunt Carol. We are now the proud owners of a rc dodge truck and a scottie puppy in a purse. This pic is for Aunt Carol.

Today we had a birthday pool party to attend. Mollie turned 5 today. She has been waiting so long to turn 5 and she was very very excited. I took my camera planning on getting lots of great pics and my battery ran out shortly after I started. Here is what I got.

I started this weekend with one goal in mind....getting student gifts completed. Here they are! I have 2 more to finish and I can't until I talk to the twins in the pictures. I can't tell them apart so I am going to have to ask. They don't like it when you mix them up. I am so happy to have this project complete. I also got all but 3 gifts bought this weekend so my to do list is looking pretyy good. I still have to finish a bucket for the kids teacher and a couple of ornaments, but that is all! I plan on enjoying this week and doing lots of stuff with the kids. WE are anxiously awaiting out holiday break which is 17 days. Whoo hoo!

I love these ornaments that I got from here.

I have made about 2 dozen this year. They make great teacher gifts and kid gifts.

The kids have really gotten into nintendo in the last couple of weeks. So we have been playing the original nintendo that John had. The kids are hillarious. They have gotten so much better just in the last week. I have a super nintendo that we moved upstairs this week. John and I have been shopping on ebay tonight for a few more games. WE only have 1 for the super. Ebay is absolutely the best thing ever.

I hope everyone has a good week. I deleted the traditions post that I never put anything in, but it is coming. I'm still trying to get my thought together. I got a little too emotional when trying to write it.

Have a good week! Merry almost Christmas!

Dad where was Jesus born?

this question got my attention so I listened.
John said "I don't know where?"
Caroline said "He was born in North Carolina." priceless.

I have no idea where she comes up with all this stuff. She was "reading" her bible story book.

Nick is feeling better, but I have been sick for 2 days. I'm hoping to be back at school tomorrow. I made myself get out of the bed at 11:00 today. I have gotten a lot accomplished today for being sick. Finished the Christmas cards, started albums for 1st graders, filled out Financial aid forms, ordered transcript, and cleaned up desk. All of it could be done sitting down. Whoo hoo!

That is all from here. I just wanted to tell you what Caroline said. Hope you have a good day tomorrow.

Howdy

Well it is another sickday here. Nick woke up with a fever 103.8. I took him to the dr and he has another double ear infection. At least it is something he can go back to school with. Tonight we have been cleaning Caroline's room. It was a pig mess. You wouldn't believe how bad it was. I don't understand how it gets so dirty.

We are going to watch Charlie Brown Christmas. Hope you had a good day! Hopefully more tomorrow.

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.