Happy Anniversary . . .

11 years married - Love you Babe! :)

Nitty Gritty . . .

So . . . I know that blogs are supposed to be about the fun stuff, but I think that it should also be a forum to talk about the not so fun stuff too. Full time work with a family kicked my rear end the first 3 weeks. I was completely overwhelmed, felt like everything I did was wrong, and that I was like a sinking ship. Last week was much better . . . thanks to Memrie for taking the kids every afternoon so that I was able to get my stuff done!! Here are some of the highlights of the last few weeks:

1) Started school - had to learn: lunch room procedures, recess procedures, bought a whistle for recess duty, still don't have an e-z grader (gave ALL supplies like that away), bought rest room passes (again, gave away), etc. etc. etc.

2) Gpa is still in ICU after having his colon removed on Thursday. Very stressful.

3) Caden had stomach virus and luckily Memrie came to the rescue again - so not ready for a sub in my disorganized room!!

4) Mom had to have procedure last week. Has Gall Bladder stones and just told me tonight that she is going to contact surgeon tomorrow and discuss options. Dad is Iowa . . . sub for my classroom is looking like it might happen sooner than later -

5) FORGOT Grace's birthday treats. She reminded me the Friday morning that we were to have the treats. No worries - I'll have my planning to do it - ha!! Not getting any mom of the year awards on my end any time soon!

6)Grace's bday party at my house.

7) Mom's 70th bday and all involvement with that!

8) Caden's trip to Pediatric after hours with 102 temp -sinus infection - showed up at 24 hour pharmacy that all of the sudden isn't 24 hours any more - ENOUGH - TOTAL NERVOUS BREAKDOWN!!

Please send prayers my way ... for patience, for my gpa, for my gma, for my mother,etc. CRAZY!!!

Caden and His Girlfriend . . .

We went to lunch with Ashli and Pat a few weeks ago. Caden and Abbi got out of the car and were walking to the restaurant in front of us. Caden grabbed her hand and they just kept walking. It was absolutely adorable!! They were really excited to see each other and kept comparing notes about how kindergarten was going - BFF's for sure!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Steve and Liz
Tom and Char
Mom and Dad
Chris and Me
Mike
The Whole Group
My mom had a milestone birthday on the 14th. We had a great weekend with family, fun, and cake! Ann came in town to celebrate with us and so did my oldest brother Tom and his wife Char. We had a room on Saturday night at Brio Italian Restaurant where we all ate dinner and celebrated her birthday - adults only. Unfortunately Emily started running a fever and Amy was not able to attend. We missed her! My mom is such a special person to me and I'm so thankful for her love and support. One lesson I have learned this month is that no matter how old you are . . . when things go wrong or are difficult - you just want your mom! Somehow they always have the magic to make it all better :)

A Few Fun Facts about Grace . . .

1) Miley Cyrus is her idol. She loves to watch Hannah Montana and even has Caden watching it with her!
2) She knows who all of the Jonas brothers are and can even tell you fun facts about each one of them.
3) Her favorite color used to be pink. Then purple. Now it is blue.
4) She likes to pick out her own clothes in the morning.
5) She is very opinionated - can't imagine where that came from?!?
6) Grace is a great big sister. She watches out for Caden most of the time and let's him play with her even when she has a friend over.
7) She loves to be the center of attention. Dance recitals.
8) She also loves to be a goof. Acting silly and calling people silly names. I think that it goes back to #7.
9) She loves to sing and has a beautiful voice.
10) She's 8 years old!!

Happy Birthday, my sweet little girl!

Grace's 8th Birthday Party . . .

Background:

I absolutely loathe doing birthday parties at my house. It's okay when they are one, maybe even two, but as they get older they are just a beating. No other explanation. So ... this year when Grace told me that she wanted her birthday at home, you can imagine how I tried to bribe her to do something different. How about ice skating? No. How about Pump it up? No. I figured that I had it with, "How about if you take a few friends and we go to Great Wolf Lodge." She did think about it, but still a negative. So birthday party at home it was - after all it is her party :)

It was a great success!! We did a pajama party with 12 of her closest friends. Crazy, I know! They decorated pillow cases that I had embellished and they made a cute sleep mask. It was a lot of fun, and that's what it's all about. I do still hear squealing voices in my head though - the wine is helping :)
Making the masks
Grace and her pillowcase
The whole group of girls
Can't leave out Caden with a whole room full of girls :)

Poor Caden . . .

1) He has the stomach flu - saying a prayer now that the rest of us don't get it. Never under estimate the power of a can of Lysol . . .

2) A little boy in his kindergarten class told him that his last name was funny. I didn't even know what to say other than, "You're going to hear this for the rest of your life." Poor little man :(