Here we are on our third week of school...new routines, new sports, new friends...it's all going pretty smoothly. Lauren started Kindergarten. Her teacher is Mrs. Flynn, one of our favorites. Mrs. Flynn told me last night at PTO that Lauren is doing great and is very bright. They just had to come to terms that things were going to be on Mrs. Flynn's terms...not Lauren's. Hmm...I've heard this before...LOL. Lauren loves everything about school, including riding the school bus. Her bus had an incident the other day before my kids got on. As a result, a parent went to jail. "Angie Dickinson" has been trying to figure out which kid on the bus has a mom in jail. Oh my...when she told me this I thought I'd die. I instructed Ethan to stick by her side and keep her lips sealed. Ethan is doing really well in second grade. He has Mrs. Borstein this year. Mrs. Borstein is expecting her first baby and we are very excited for her. However, I was not too thrilled when Ethan leaned over in church the other night and asked me how babies get out of their mom's bodies. Thankfully it happened there because I was able to say "pay attention to the movie and quit talking!" Hopefully he won't get to thinking about it again. If he does...I'm passing that one to Steve. LOL Both kids are playing soccer. Lauren is really aggressive which surprised me. The last time she played soccer she strolled around and wouldn't even kick the ball. She has become a real go-getter. Ethan likes playing goalie. He does a good job defending the goal. Ethan is also doing boy scouts again this year. The first meeting was last night and they kicked off popcorn sales. This evening he asked to go next door and try to sell some popcorn. I checked on him a couple of times but an hour later I had to get in the car and go find him. He managed to make his way all the way down Williams street. When I found him he was talking to some man that was trying to cut his grass about buying popcorn. He will probably be selling Kirby vacuum cleaners by the time he gets to high school.

Lots of things are changing around here. First of all, we have added to the family. That's right...we got a dog. Tucker Wiley came into our family two weeks ago. He is a very sweet lab mix puppy. He's about 7 or 8 weeks old and he is Ethan's best buddy. Lauren says she loves him but she won't touch him. She also wears her boots when he's untied to protect herself from doggy scratches and "bites". Hopefully she'll be ready to shed the boots soon.

Coming Attractions

First of all, let me apologize for my lack of activity on this blog. I knew it had been a while but....I am now 45 years old. I have been working full time as a nurse practitioner/coordinator of our Heart Failure program, and we are coming up on our 12th anniversary. Also, after much prayer and soul searching we left our church about 6 months ago and moved our membership to a congregation much closer to our home. It was difficult to give up the work I was doing in my old church but God has already opened doors in our new church for us to serve.
The most current excitement in our house in our upcoming cruise vacation. We are leaving next Saturday, June 16th for 7 fun filled days on the Disney Fantasy. This is Disney's newest cruise ship and has lots of great stuff on board. We are going to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Castaway Cay. We are all very anxious to get started but I realize before we know it we'll be headed home with tons of memories to hold us until next time.

Another chapter in our life will also be opening in a couple of months. My baby is going to kindergarten. I can hardly believe it! But then again...I could hardly believe I hadn't blogged in 2 years. LOL She is very excited to go to big school, ride the bus, and hang with her friends. In fact, I think she's just in a hurry to grow up period. She still amazes me with her insight and reasoning skills. This girl is going to be dangerous as a teenager!

Ethan is getting ready to play in the league championship game tomorrow for the Little League (K-2). Seems like the season just started and we're wrapping it up already. He is already looking forward to soccer and basketball. He has been obsessed with balls since infancy and it looks like it might be his outlet for many years to come. 

Miscellaneous

I really don't think I have a lot to say but it's been so long since I've blogged that I'm kinda embarrassed. Especially since my friend Miranda designed this awesome layout for me and I haven't even used it.
We are all doing pretty well despite a rough start to 2011. Steve rang in the new year from his hospital bed @ St Mary's. A few days later all our money was stolen when someone hacked into our bank account. Since then, things have been relatively calm.
The kids are up to their usual mayhem. Ethan is over half way through kindergarten. So hard to believe. What's even more unbelievable is the stuff they learn in kindergarten these days. I should have started teaching him to read @ birth. And here I thought all that Baby Einstein stuff was crap. I guess just because I couldn't understand the black screen with the ball rolling around it didn't mean the kids wouldn't.
Lauren is learning high frequency words along with Ethan. I thought I'd save myself the trouble later. Anyway, the other day Ethan had the word "but". Lauren says "OHHH.. that's a bad word." So a few minutes later when I showed her the card "but" she straightened her shoulders and very politely said "bottom". Gotta love that girl!
Lauren is up to her usual shenanigans. Today's trick was doing the laundry all by herself. She kept saying she had done the laundry all by herself and when I went to find my jeans, I realized she was telling the truth! She had put a whole basket of clean laundry in the washer and ran the cycle. All my stuff was soaking wet. I had to wear exercise-type stretch pants to her field trip today. Luckily she's too young to be embarassed.
The preschool went to Rome Vol. Fire Department today. It was very educational. Lauren now knows to call "991" in an emergency....I guess we're up a creek if it's up to her to call for help! I should have known she wasn't interested because she yawned through the entire presentation and wouldn't take the sticker that said she'd been to the fire station.
Lots of laughs as always!
Shari

My Photo Book Jan 31 2011

Click here to view this photo book larger

Excited about new blog

I have a new look for the blog coming soon. I am so excited! My friend's daughter is designing it for me and I think it's going to be really neat. I definitely will have enough stories to tell. My two kids keep life interesting and Steve is just icing on the cake.
Like this evening I heard a lot of rowdiness coming from the bedrooms. When I went to see what was going on, they had put a basketball goal up in the shower and were shooting hoops. I made them stop and the next thing I knew Ethan was crying. He said he was playing dead and Lauren bit him. I went in there and the little dickens had left bite marks on his finger! He got her back though. She came in from playing with the cat and he chased her with a giant spider I had put out for Halloween. She was trembling, she was so frightened! Anyway, I digress....
Stay tuned for our upcoming makeover!

Percy visits Ethan

This free photo collage generated with Smilebox

Where do I start?

Well it's been a long time since I blogged and so much has gone on I"m not sure I know where to start.
I guess the biggest thing that has happened is my surgery last week on my thyroid.
I had a two inch mass on the left lobe of my thyroid. I underwent a partial thyroidectomy and the mass was benign. Thank the Lord! I had to spend 2 nights in the hospital because I drained a lot from the hemovac that was left in post-op.
The first night was interesting to say the least. I was placed in a semi-private room with an older lady who had COPD and kept her TV on all night. The TV would not have bothered me if she had better taste in programming. However as soon as I was moved out of PACU and put in my room, I was faced with Jerry Springer, followed by Judge Judy. It was nightmarish.
The only other complaint I had about my stay was the food. I eat St. Marriott cuisine every day of my life and think it's tolerable, even good some days. This is not the case when it comes to patient trays. I was brought the same lunch both days. Diced chicken with gravy on top. Now I know I had my throat cut open but please....diced chicken? It reminded me of the time I tried introducing chicken flavored baby food to Ethan. Lots of gagging and tears. Needless to say I sent Steve to Arbys for roast beef.
The kids had a hard time with me being in the hospital-Ethan more so than Lauren. However for probably the first 3 days I was home Lauren asked me at least hourly to "see my cut neck". She wanted to see if it was getting any better.
Lauren got her first kiss at school this week. Unlike Ethan who collected kisses from girls in preschool, Lauren was kissed by a Llama at Heritage Farm. She just giggles about, didn't bother that girl a bit! She also likes to show us how she milked a cow and gathered eggs from the chickens. She had a really good time. Hopefully she will remember her experience.
Steve has had pneumonia all this week. He started coughing on Sunday. By Monday I was ducking everytime he coughed because I was afraid a piece of lung was going to come flying across the room. He's doing a little bit better today (FINALLY- it's Friday!) so we're keeping our fingers crossed that he'll be back to work next week.
Ethan is still enjoying school and enjoying life. He's been a good boy this week and has been real protective of "his best momma".
Until next time...remember this wisdom I borrowed from a friend. Don't take life too seriously. Nobody gets out alive!

Shari