Bowling

Today we started the day off with church and then came home for a quick lunch before setting out on our adventure for the day.
 We went bowling and of course I didn't get a single picture. This was the first time the 4 of us had ever gone together. I took the kids with Jenni a few months ago.
   I love how bowling is now kid friendly. They have these things that look like walkers with a hill attached to them for the kids to roll the ball down and make it down the lane. They also have bumpers that go up and down so that adults and kids can play on the same lane.
   We paid for an hour of bowling which got us a game and a half. It was perfect because by the end the kids were getting tired. Chris beat me by only 6 points which is a huge deal for me. I'm usually really bad but today I played a really good game.
    After bowling we went to an ice cream place we hadn't been to in year and enjoyed some ice cream. We then went to Target to let the kids spend their gift cards from their Grandparents for Easter. Alyssa was very serious about it and spent a long time asking prices and figuring out if she got this she can't have that or if she got that she could pick out something else. She finally settled on a Barbie and some Barbie clothes. Colin got a monster truck, a small car and a book.
   We then came home and I started dinner and the kids played on their own for about 2 hours until dinner was ready.  It was a really good day as a family. We enjoyed things outside the home and in, it wasn't rushed and everyone was in a good mood for the most part.

I really enjoy family days like that!

Alyssa

This morning I was getting ready for church and Chris was in the shower. I came downstairs and Alyssa said mom I need help getting this string off my finger.
  I looked at her finger and she had the thinnest string ever wrapped around her pointer finger MANY times and super tight. It was so tight the tip of her finger was already dark purple. I tried to find a point to start unwrapping but couldn't find an end. I tried for about 15 seconds while watching her finger turn many more colors before I told her we needed to go get Daddy. I ran and got a knife thinking I could slice the string and followed up the stairs.
   Chris told me no to the knife but to grab scissors. I got them he told me to cut but I cut the wrong part making it even harder to get it undone. 3 or 4 times he would make a noise or grunt making me think he wasn't getting it off. I couldn't see the string anymore all I could see is her finger getting purple and swelling quickly. I started to grab her arm and told Chris I was taking her to the hospital but he told me to stop and calm down.
  About 30 of the longest seconds ever he said there I think I got it all. I grabbed her finger and she cried but I couldn't see any more string.
   Alyssa and I came back downstairs and she climbed right into my lap and was asking questions about why her finger still hurt and why it was changing colors. I explained that the blood couldn't move through her finger and so it made it turn purple. She seemed to understand. Hopefully she won't wrap anything else around her fingers.
   I'm so grateful that Chris was able to remain calm and get the string off because I don't think I could have.

So tired

I have now closed the daycare for 4 days in a row. I used to open every day, luckily about a month ago we changed it and now I go in at 7:30 versus 6:30. But still working until 6:30 a night is so draining. I feel like I have no time at home and no patience for my kids.  Thank God Chris hasn't left yet and he has taken over the kids for me for the last few nights.
I am so grateful for my own business but it is times like this that remind me that for every good thing there is with owning a business there are also sucky parts.

My staff has pulled together wonderfully and I haven't heard any complaints, kids are still well taken care of. I am proud of my staff and know that we picked some good people to work for us.

Now I just need a drink and to put my feet up.

Happy Easter!

It was a beautiful day here! We got up, the kids came downstairs and looked through their Easter baskets, then went searching for eggs.

When then let them play a bit, and then got ready for church. Since it was Easter Sunday there were a lot more people at church and as I looked around at all the little kids I told Chris I would really like to keep the kids with us versus sending them to the nursery. I said this for two reasons, one I knew that one of the regular ladies was out and usually that means if they need help I have to stay and I wanted to hear the sermon, and two because Colin has been relatively healthy lately and I really didn't want him exposed to more germs than he had to.   The kids did great. During children's time the pastor turned on music and encouraged the kids and other people to dance. Colin stood up and started to cry. I had to go up and rescue him. He just kept saying "I don't want to dance". Alyssa stayed up there and danced and when the music stopped and the kids sat back down Colin went back to join them.
They did really well for the rest of the service. Colin got a little restless towards the end but still he was really good.
  We then walked home from church (we walked there as well). We had a snack and then left to pick up food and head to Judy and Chas house. We had a nice sit down family dinner and then the kids got to search for more eggs. This year it was only Alyssa and Colin searching for eggs. They had about 100 eggs to find. They had a blast but got WAY too much candy and money.
   After that we had some cake to celebrate Becca's birthday and mine.

I love that the kids get along so well with their cousins. It is nice that they can all go off and play while the adults sit around and talk. They are building the relationships I dreamed about before they were even born.

We then came home and went for a walk as a family. It was then time for a short tv program, baths and bed.

It was a really good Easter and we really enjoyed the weather and each other's company.

My Birthday

Today is my birthday. It was a good day.

It started with Alyssa crawling into bed with me and wishing me a Happy Birthday. She then told me all about the present I was going to get after dinner and then asked for doughnuts ( because that is what we do for the kids birthdays).

I then came downstairs to Colin who also asked if it was my birthday and I told him yes, to which he responded he couldn't wish me a Happy Birthday until dinner time. There were also flowers on the counter for me and trash was at the curb. (Both nice surprises)

I got off work at 10, I ran some errands and then Chris came home early and we went out for lunch.

I had to return to work at 2, and when I came home at 6:40 dinner and a drink were waiting for me on the table.

I enjoyed dinner of chicken, macaroni salad, and broccoli. With German Chocolate cake for dessert.

The kids and Chris got me a jewelry organizer that I wanted. My dad and step mom got me a coach purse and ear rings that have the moon phases of the day the kids were born. My mom got me pictures for the house that I have wanted.

It was a really good birthday and I love that my kids are getting old enough to understand. They don't know why they made my day so special but really they made it so amazing.

I turned 30 today. I got a few texts telling me that I shouldn't worry about this birthday. For all of them I responded I'm really not unhappy with turning 30.
  I have a good career, a successful business, a wonderful husband, two amazing kids and a life I love. I'm not upset at all turning 30. It might of been different if my life was in a different spot, but I'm okay with turning 30 and excited to see what my 30's bring me.

Weekend

We had a really good weekend. The weather was wonderful Thursday-Saturday.

On Friday night once I got off work we went out to dinner and then went to the carnival that comes to town every year. Alyssa remembered it from last year and was so excited to go. We bought 16 tickets and they had used those in about a 30 minute time span. We had to carry Colin out of the carnival crying. We promised to go back on probably Sunday. Unfortunately the weather turned bad on Sunday and we weren't able to go back. We are going to try to go on Wednesday. They went on a pretty fast twirly roller coaster. Colin really liked it, Alyssa said she liked it but Chris said her face wasn't so sure. We also went on the super tall slides that you ride down on a sack.
  The kids also were able to do a fair amount of rides by themselves and they liked that.

On Saturday Chris had other plans so the kids and I, along with a good friend of Colin's and her mom headed off to Eckerts in Bellville to have some Easter fun. We got to hold a baby bunny, a baby chick and pet baby ducks. We got to ride a tractor, search for eggs, get face painted, decorate cookies, see the Easter bunny and plant some seeds. The kids had a blast and enjoyed it. We then went to a late lunch and came home.
Later that evening we went out and got new tennis shoes for the kids and they were also super excited about that.

On Sunday we had some storms that came through so we stayed around the house most of the day, but did go out in the evening for dinner at a good pizza place. The pizza place has the kitchen open so you can see into it. The kids enjoyed watching the guy throw the dough and make the pizzas. The guy enjoyed playing with the kids as well. He was throwing flour at them, then at one point put up plastic against the window so they couldn't see in anymore.
  Alyssa loved the pizza. This is exciting because we have tried pizza from many places and so far we can only get her to eat Little Caesars or Papa Johns. But she ate three pieces of Dewy's pizza last night and another two of it tonight.

It was a good weekend. We are now back into the week and both Chris and I are fighting head colds that seem to be winning right now.

Moving

Last Saturday we went and picked up a uhaul truck and loaded it with a bed, a couch and some other odds and ends and set off for Iowa.
 We put one car seat in the uhaul and one car seat in my car. The kid in my car got to watch a movie (first time a movie has ever been played in my car). It ended up taking us about 4 hours with a stop for lunch. The kids did fantastic! Not one complaint and while Alyssa was ready to get out of the car at the end she still did fantastic.
  We got the uhaul unloaded and drove around the town and then headed to our hotel for the night. We were not able to get a hotel in the town Chris is going to be living because they are all full with all the people working on the job. So we started back towards home and got a hotel about an hour away from the new job site.
   We got all settled and went to sleep. At about midnight Colin woke up gasping for air. I had a glass of water sitting by the side of my bed and I grabbed it and walked over to him. He started to throw up so I got him to the bathroom and he threw up some mucus. Even after that he was still gasping. I told Chris I was worried and thought we might need to call 911. We decided I would try taking him outside and see if the cold air would help. So in my pj's I took Colin outside, it did nothing.
   I took him to the front desk and asked how to get to the hospital. She told me that there was one about 3 miles away. So I took Colin back upstairs and put shoes on him and clothes on me. We then headed to the hospital with him gasping the whole time.
   I found the hospital pretty easily and ran him in, by then I was shaking worse than he was. They hooked him up to the O2 monitor right away and his O2 was good (high 90's) but he was wheezing. So they got me back in a room and started a breathing treatment. The doctor came in and looked him over and saw he had a bad ear infection. We did a chest x-ray and it showed pneumonia. So the doctor came back and asked what I wanted to do. We decided to give him another breathing treatment, a shot of antibiotics and a shot of steroids and we would go back to the hotel to sleep and then head for home ASAP the next morning.
  From the time I got in my car at the hotel to the time I got back to the hotel was a total of 2 hours. Gotta love a small county hospital in a small town.
   Alyssa slept through all of it and was shocked when she woke up the next morning to me sleeping with her versus Colin.
   We got home and Colin has been ok since we got back, lots of coughing but is still in a good mood and eating well.
   Chris leaves for good Sunday night or Monday morning. So right now we are just enjoying the last week of normal as we know it before we start a new normal.

A year

A year ago tomorrow is when Colin went into the hospital for a PICC line. We really though we would get answers from that.
  Since that PICC line we have had 3 major surgeries and 1 bronchoscopy by itself.
 Here we sit a year later no closer to answers than we were this time last year. It is so discouraging and frustrating. We will get a second opinion from an ENT the end of this month and then see the pulm again in May.  At this point I don't expect answers.
  Colin has been okay health wise. He finished his antibiotic the first week of March and while his nose has been running since the day he stopped the medicine he hasn't been too sick. Hopefully we can get a few more weeks before he is totally run down again.


Also 4 years ago tomorrow was my last day as a classroom teacher. On April 2, 2010 I walked out of school at the end of the day and never went back. In fact I have only stepped foot in that school one more time since that day and it was at a time when there weren't any kids around. While I'm sad I didn't get to finish the year out, I do not regret my decision at all. The last 4 years have been so much better than the 3 years I had as a classroom teacher. I still have a fair amount of stress, and I work longer days than I did as a teacher but my over all attitude is much better.

Wow it is amazing how much your life can change, and stay the same in such a short amount of time.