Baseball Camp

Was it a week for the boys to be with friends and play one of their favorite sports or a week to get the kids out of the house??  Well mommy says it was a win win for both sides so why not :-)?!?! Kids had a blast which is all that matters. 

Colton, Dylan, Carson, Colby, and Jackson

Coach Mac

Best Birthday Ever!!

Today I turned 38! I can remember when I thought that 30 was so old and now I am getting close to 40.  It seems so weird to think that I have officially reached my late 30's but to be honest I don't feel that old.....Guess that is a good thing :-)...although I am sure I look it!

My day started with birthday wishes from the kids.  They made me a big card and bought me a balloons and flowers.  Then the hustle and bustle of getting boys ready for baseball camp and Abby ready for her last day of school.  A few hours alone (Blake was sleeping) and then my mom came to take me, Abby, and Blake to lunch.  Back to pick the boys up and home for some relaxation. 

Daddy came home after grocery shopping in the monsoon we were having for the past week to make me dinner, eat cupcakes from Cupcake Girls and open presents.  I have been spoiled!!!  Loving life right now....great husband, awesome kids, and wonderful family and friends!!!

My homemade card

I asked why it didn't say Queen for the Month
Dylan said " well we couldn't find one but you can still be a queen for a month"
Love that kid!!!

Cupcakes from Cupcake Girl with princess candles

I am not sure I was able to blow them all out in one breath

Ready to rip open some presents

A little help from the kids

My Garmin

Scott has planned a kid free day for me tomorrow.  Starting off with a 90 minute massage and then he is taking a 1/2 day off to come have lunch with me at the club and spend the afternoon at the beach.  I so cannot wait!!!

First Day and Last Day

After a year full of making friends, dramatic play, painting with fingers, making crafts, story time, learning how to share (she still needs has a lot of learning to do in this dept) Abby finished her first year of "preschool" AKA "moms day out".  She loved every minute of school and cannot wait to go back. 

Mommy is very thankful for Mrs. Kasey who generously came to pick Abby up everyday and bring her home.  During this carpool Abby made her first "best friend'.  Kasey said they would just giggle and talk the whole way to and from school but that would be after they battled it our for a car seat. 

I took a picture of Abby of her first day and her last day.  Amazing how she has grown in 9 months. 

1st Day

Last Day

Ms Janell

Abby and Ry Ry

9 months

9 months and one BIG bundle of joy!!  This kid smiles all day long.  He cries when he is hungry, tired, or just needs a bit of mommy time.  Most of the time he is crawling around the house playing with he brothers and sister or exploring the house.  Already trying to keep up with everyone by eating what we eat and walking by pushing either the John Deer or the shopping cart.  He doesn't want to be left out of anything.  It has been said he will be the most spoiled in this family and not just by mommy!

Can you see the drool dripping from his mouth?  He has been working on his two top teeth forever!

Colby's Kindergarten Graduation

We made it through our first year of homeschooling and mommy actually was able to teach Colby how to read, he learned his vowels, how to sound out words and spell them, add, subtract, tell time, count money, and so much more.  He was able to go to our local zoo for classes which he was able to see animals up close and touch a few too.  Thank You Jacksonville ZOO for taking care of the science portion of our curriculum. 

We joined a homeschool group that has a variety of fun activities.  One of Colby's favorites, besides "recess" with his brothers and sister, was going to run club.  He normally clocked between a mile and a mile and half every time we went (we didn't go every Wednesday).  He also was able to clock miles when we went bike riding or had any other physical activity.  His teacher was supposed to log the miles and turn them in so he could get a plastic foot for every 5 miles.  Lets just say his teacher was a bit unorganized in that department and his total was only 30 miles.  After Blake was born and the weather wasn't so hot it became a requirement for my boys to ride their bikes as I pushed Abby and Blake in the stroller so that I could get my runs in.  We did this about twice a week for several months. So with that all said I know the teacher forgot many more miles that he should have gotten credit for.  There is always next year :-)

Our year was full of learning whether it was doing our school work, traveling, or being together as a family.  One thing daddy gets credit for is he loves to ask the kids questions about our surroundings as we drive around town.  Its amazing what there is to learn if you just look around. 

Here are some of the things we did through out the year....

First Day of School

Art Project
Teaching them our address and phone number

Candy Cane Pull

Here are the ones we made

Valentine Art for Daddy

So fun

Having fun with baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring

Don't kid yourself it became much messier

Learned how potatoes grow

Colby discovered the first potato

Tennis lessons

Of course he grew like a weed too!

3ft 81/2 in 44lbs

3ft 11in 48lbs

Although I didn't participate in a large amount of activities that the homeschool group did the one I wouldn't miss is the End of the Year Award Ceremony and Kindergarten Graduation.  Wanted Colby to be celebrated for all the hard work he did and all that he accomplished.  We are so blessed to have grandparents close by to help celebrate him too!

Colby and Grandmommy

Grammy, Pop Pop and Colby

Papa, Colby, and Nana

Grandma, Colby, and Grandpa

Us

Colby and his teacher :-)

Well we are going to try another year at home so off to 1st grade we go!!!

Tropical Storm Beryl

Happy Memorial Day! Its been years since Jacksonville has had a direct hit with a storm and thankfully when we finally got hit dead on it was just a tropical storm!! She brought lots of rain and wind with almost no damage to the city.  When weather is nasty it causes for lots of build up energy so out to explore the beach and see the waves we went. 



Being Thankful

I worked today, which does not happen all that often, and up until the last 2 hours it had been a pretty good day.  All it takes is one patient to make a pretty good day turn sour.  As a nurse I have tried hard not to bring home my work and most of the time I am pretty successful at it.  One of my patients came in and the parents thought she had possible aspirated on some chicken because within minutes of eating it she had become really fussy and inconsolable. The fussiness would come and go and had been lasting for about 2 hours. Her breathing was shallow and she seemed to be in some real pain.   In the end she only had an ear infection.  Hahahaha is what went through my mind.  Not because I thought the parents were dumb but because I realized how this is exactly what would have happened to me with one of my children and how stupid I would have felt thinking it was anything but a basic diagnosis.  Very coincidental!!! This was just the calm before the storm.... 

Now this is where my day went down hill. An 11 year old girl came in with dizziness, blurriness, and weakness.  History: post brain surgery removing only part of a tumor and 7 lesions on her spine! Really?? Are you serious?  She is only 11!! When I walked into the room you would have never known she was sick.  Her smile lit up the room.  So innocent and so sweet.  She really wished I wasn't doing the IV and taking blood but tolerated it extremely well!

Come out of the room and have been told that I am getting a suicidal patient who is hitting his mother and basically cussing the staff out! My thoughts: Great! Seriously don't feel like dealing with this today or any day.  I don't understand why people act or do this.  Didn't take long for my feelings to switch from annoyed to extremely compassionate.  Most of my compassion was for the mom.  He was telling her he hated her, F you (including the staff), you ruined my life, if you let them touch me I will put my head through this glass door and cut my head off!!! The mom actually was an employee for our hospital and I decided at the minute it was about her not him.  So I asked "what do you need?".  She said "for him to go to the floor ASAP".  My mission was to make sure we could get him calm and to the floor sooner than later. 

Before I go back to my little girl to draw more blood I hear the doctor say that she will be going into emergency surgery because the neurosurgeon thinks the lesions may be pressing onto her spin causing the issues.  Deep breath as I walk into the room.  All I can think about is how would i be handling this situation if this was one of my children.  I look into these parents eyes and they seem to be handling everything quite well.  While I am in the room drawing blood I am talking to the girl asking her questions to help ease the situation.  I asked her what her favorite color was.  She said cotton candy blue.  Dad said basically baby blue.  I laughed and said thank goodness it isn't gator blue.  The family told me that there was only one gator in the family.  I thought they meant only one family member liked the Gators but reality was they all loved Tim Tebow.  This little girls wish was to meet Tim Tebow.  Her wish was being granted by Dreams Come True and she will go to NY is the fall to see a game and meet Tim.  Of course that all is dependant on how well she is at the time! I told the family that we knew the guy who was in charge of the Tim Tebow Foundation and they knew Eric and Liz Dellenback too.  My thoughts: great now I feel a connection.  Am I going to carry this home with me?  I don't do this!

Truthfully I did carry it home with me! I asked to carry it home.  Before I left for the night I took her a warm blanket and asked the parents if I could take a sticker with her name on it so that I could add her to my prayer list.  The mom began to cry and said yes.  Gave mom and dad a hug and told the little girl that she was in Gods hands. 

You may ask...so did I pray for her yet?  Yes I did!! I prayed for her, her parents and the doctors that would be doing the surgery. 

In a 12 hour shift 2 hours made me stop and think how lucky I am to have such healthy kids, a healthy husband and my own health.  Thank you god for what I have and who you gave me to be my family! Thank you for all that you provide and thank you for everything.