Updates and Pictures

Well, we are now settling into a bit of a routine with 4 people and 4 dogs in the house. I have to say four dogs is a bit much, but Korie finally has someone to play with. Korie, now almost 40 lbs, is best friends with Sadie . They are like Mutt and Jeff. They play tug of war with anything they can find, and they also like to wrestle. 40lb dog usually wins by sitting on the 8lb dog, lol - it is just too funny. Don't underestimate Sadie though, as she will grab Kories nose in her mouth for a good bite!

Here is Sadie making herself right at home on my lap the other evening while we were watching TV.


In other news today, my aunt came through her double knee surgery well Monday. She has a long road to recovery ahead of her , and right now is in a lot of pain, but over all is doing well.

I got a bit of a treat the other day while my aunt was in surgery - my young cousin Mollie was there on her clinical rotation through her Health Sciences class in high school. I've mentioned Mollie before - she is the kickass V-Ball player! Isn't she cute in her scrubs? The lady sitting behind her is my moms BFF Shirley - not even sure she knew she got in the picture, lol.

Well, I've finally started getting paid again, so today I'm going to get my flu shot, and Sue and I will be going for haircuts as long as Mona can get us in. Then we just may go shopping, and out for Chinese.

Hope everyone is having a great day and week! TTYL

Wonderful, Exciting, Adventurous, Expensive...

These are all things that I would use to describe the opportunity that has come up for Nicole.

A few weeks ago we got a letter addressed to the parents of... well, it was an invitation to an'informational meeting' for Nicole to travel with a group of People to People Ambassadors.

Well, never having heard of this group before I did some research online and found out that they are accredited with the BBB, and that it was actually founded in 1956 by President Eisenhower.

It explained that starting the summer between 5th and 6th grade students are invited to travel to destinations as a child ambassador and have some incredibly awesome experiences.

The trip that Nicole was invited to was is called Experiencing Western Canada. We got the confirmation of the meeting that was this past Saturday at a local college. We didn't think it was a hoax, but were still skeptical. As Nicole spent the night with Carson Friday night just Chris and I went.

What we found is that the kids that are allowed to travel is 5th - 12th grade. Starting in 7th grade the kids get High school credits and into 9th and above they can earn college credits. Upon completion of the trip they actually receive a transcript. The groups travel in numbers of 40 with no less than 4 leaders per group. It is a fun trip, but is also very educational. Some of the trips can be to Australia, parts of Europe, Africa, or Japan.

The only thing that we see as even a minor roadblock is the cost. Just to turn in the application is $400 upfront, which goes toward the final cost. We do have her scheduled for her interview on October 17. We were assured if we couldn't turn it in right away , there would be other groups going throughout the summer to the same location, so she wouldn't be denied the chance. She can get a corporate sponsor, and even scholarship funding. We are looking into ALL of these options. They even gave us a website for fundraising. Obviously she isn't the first one to need it.

We have no clue who nominated her, but that is the only way this group accepts the name of a student. She has to have 3 personal recommendations, as well as a questionnaire that she fills out. All of that has to be brought to the interview. We already have the two teachers picked out that we will give the papers too to fill out, and then the one adult that is familiar with her that is not a relative.

Please say a prayer or two that all comes together and that she gets to go. Their trips can last up to 21 days, but the one she is invited to is 12 days, so hopefully we can get it together!

____________

Also, keep my aunt Donna in your prayers as she is having double knee replacement surgery Monday morning; and my cousin Dale, as he broke his collar bone in a bicycle accident.

We also get the scores of Nicole's testing that she had last week for the gifted/talented program, so please keep your fingers crossed!

A Friday Funny For Ya;))

THE POTTY

A LITTLE THREE YEAR OLD BOY IS SITTING ON THE TOILET. HIS MOTHER THINKS HE HAS BEEN IN THERE TOO LONG, SO SHE GOES IN TO SEE WHAT'S UP. THE LITTLE BOY IS SITTING ON THE TOILET READING A BOOK. BUT ABOUT EVERY 10 SECONDS OR SO HE PUTS THE BOOK DOWN, GRIPS ONTO TO THE TOILET SEAT WITH HIS LEFT HAND AND HITS HIMSELF ON TOP OF THE HEAD WITH HIS RIGHT HAND..

HIS MOTHER SAYS: "BILLY, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? YOU'VE BEEN IN HERE FOR A WHILE.

BILLY SAYS: "I'M FINE, MOMMY.. I JUST HAVEN'T GONE 'DOODY' YET."

MOTHER SAYS: "OK, YOU CAN STAY HERE A FEW MORE MINUTES.BUT, BILLY, WHY ARE YOU HITTING YOURSELF ON THE HEAD?"



BILLY SAYS: "WORKS FOR KETCHUP."

Getting Situated

Wow! What a week so far. We seem to be getting into a bit of a routine now that my MIL has moved in. I never assumed nor asked her to be the house maid , but she was kind enough to do most of the laundry, and depending on who cooks dinner, the other does the dishes.

I got called into work on Tuesday, then had to work all day today and all day tomorrow. I have the same class for two days - a fairly good group of first graders with the exception of two that I have to keep my eye on. They are what make my day interesting:))

I got home about an hour ago from my Wednesday night crocheting/knitting circle. I'm so happy that the shop opened - I found the sweetest bunch of ladies and we all range in age. I'm not by far the youngest one there - that would be the shop owners niece who is a senior in High School.

My MIL ( Sue from here on out) decided to skip tonight but will come up there with Nicole and I next week as she is still tired from all she has had to do to get ready for the move. She will fill out her application tomorrow and go into school with Nicole and I on Friday to turn it in and meet Nicoles teacher. Nicole is excited to have everyone meet her Nanny!

I hope everyones week has been going great, I have checked out a few blogs, but have not gotten around to as many as I usually do, so give me a little while and I will catch up!

I'm also LOVING our cooler temps! we were actually in the high 50s this morning!

Short and Sweet

Okies, this post is really short, because I have to get in my kitchen and start merging all the stuff my MIL brought with what we already had. She didn't want to throw food out that she had, so she brought three boxes of dry goods!!!

She and Chris got back here safe with a giant U-Haul, which we have to return today , and my house is, well, packed...

So far I"m not scheduled to work this week, so I think she and I will be working around the house and getting things in order.

Keep your fingers crossed since today is the day that Nicole is tested for the Oasis program!

Also, some really exciting news about Nicole that I will reveal next Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy Monday!

I PROMISE to get some pics of my MIL and her puppy up here soon! Shes like Chris in the fact that she doesn't like her picture taken randomly - living with my she will have to get over that!

Not Their Intended Use

After I took Nicole to school this morning I came home as usual. Chris was still at home since he didn't have to go into work as early as normal. He had Korie ( our now 32 lb puppy) with him. She had been laying across his lap after they had played a bit while I was gone.

When I got to the kitchen on the way to the den, I heard a yell of pain from Chris along with a string of money in the jar words and Korie's name mixed in. I went back there and asked what happened. All I saw was Chris scrunching his eyes closed in pain and holding his hands over his happy place. He said " She used my nuts as a springboard".

Ouch.

Here is a picture of just how big she is getting:

I Believe

I believe that everything will work out the way it should in the end - I have to believe that!

Thank you to everyone for the kind words to me during this very frustrating time:)

I'm in a little better mood than I was Monday.

Anyway, on to better things:

First, my friend Christina is having a give away for some Ponds Cleansing Towlettes - she loves them and highly recommends them! Click here if you'd like to enter for a chance to get them!

Second, with all the scares around concerning the Swine Flu and such, I thought it would be good to at least get a giggle out of it: ( I got this from my mom in an e-mail )

SWINE FLU SYMPTOM

CHECK

If you wake up looking like this,

don't go to work

Sorry if anyone got offended by that - I thought it was freaking funny!

But seriously folks, it obviously is NOT something to mess around with. Wash your hands, don't put your hands by your mouth or nose ( so that means NO PICKING! for you gold diggers out there...) , and if someone is coughing and sneezing all over the place hand them a tissue:))

Be assured I will be getting a flu shot as soon as I get paid this month, and hopefully will be able to get the swine flu shot as well - it scares me !

Well the countdown is 4 days till my MIL will be here - I can't wait for her to get here, but all the moving stuff around and painting and getting for the upcoming garage sale I could do without.

Well, I'm off to read ya'lls blogs, so toodle loo for now:)) Hope everyone has a great day!

Enough is Enough

Now I could be talking about kids fighting, or wanting the voices in my head to stop , however in this case I'm talking about rain. It has rained with very little reprieve every day since Friday.

The weather people had been threatening it most of the week, but Friday it started and hasn't stopped. I also checked out the forecast for the next 10 days and rain is predicted with a better than 50 percent chance 8 out of those 10 days! ARGH!

This really puts a damper on things. The dogs don't want to go out and go potty because we haven't equipped them with flippers and masks, my bird hates it because her beloved sunlight isn't streaming in through her window, the only shoes of mine that I can wear are my crocs since they are water proof. Well, you get the idea, it sucks.

As for other things going on, my MIL will be here soon, but due to the weather we are thinking it might be later rather than sooner, we will have to wait and see.

- Chris got an unexpected day off work today - his boss called him early and told him he didn't have to come in today due to the weather. Now I've mentioned the deplorable conditions he works in, so we are kind of wondering if the rain caused the roof to collapse or what. Lets pray that isn't the case since that would mean that he wouldn't be working...

- Nicole is going to be tested on the 21st at school for the gifted /talented program so keep your fingers crossed. She is very excited as the program at this time is focusing on science and social studies.

- Nicole has the school science faire coming up so she is trying to figure out what kind of experiment to do.

- My BFF Nikki is having to make a few decisions regarding her career and is going through some health problems due to the stress it is causing, so please give her a thumbs up that it will all work out ok.

- Me? I'm doing ok for the moment. I too am going through some stuff that I really don't want to discuss at this time, but just be assured that I am healthy. That is all I an say at the moment. Maybe after it all works itself out I will feel like sharing. I can say too that it is hard, I'm doing a lot of soul searching with occasional tears thrown in.

I hope everyone else is doing well, I' m going to end this post for the time being and go read other blogs that I have to catch up on!

Haven't Been Around

Hiyas everyone! Here to say QUICKLY that I am still around - just either working at school all week, or working around the house in the evening after dinner getting the final stuff done for my MIL to move in - which is just aroudn the corner on the weekene dof the 19th!!!

Hope everyone is doing well and is looking forward to the weekend!

Will catch up on all the blogs I've been missing reading this week hopefully tomorrow!

Hugs to all!

Labor Day Weekend

Ok, not sure when I posted last - I know it was this past week, but I'm blank for the moment on exactly when.

Lots going on - brain on overdrive. So much so that Friday I was sure after working all day with a class of first graders it was oozing out of my ears. /sigh.

Anyway, this week has been really busy. Seems like nothing got done. So this weekend, Nicole and I are taking the time to clean. Since we don't have a car. Since Chris isn't at home ALL WEEKEND.

Why is Chris not here and why are we carless for THREE days you may be asking?

Well, Chris had planned a few weeks back to go to his moms this 3 day weekend and help tie up some loose ends before she moves. Do some minor work on her house and stuff. Well, his cousin Jay was going to go with him. They were going to take Jays truck, leaving us with the car.

Well , Jay had to get a tetanus shot for travel purposes this past Wednesday. Within a few hours he started having a slight reaction, then it got worse. By Thursday he was in bed per docs orders for the next 4-5 days. Turns out he had such a bad reaction from the shot that it was about one step down from an anaphylactic reaction, it was that bad.

Well, Chris couldn't NOT go, so him and his other cousin Brett took off for San Antonio Friday evening and will be back sometime Monday. Nicole and I had plans, but now they just inclue NOT getting on each others nerves and doing some much needed cleaning.

Hope everyone else is having a great Labor Day Weekend!

Heaven

I know I haven't changed my music player in a while - I promise to make up a new list and post it, so you aren't listening to heavy rock
But before I do that thought, I wanted to share a video with you.
For those of you who are country music fans, you probably know who Jason Aldean is.
Do yo also remember Bryan Adams from the 80s? sang Heaven, and Summer of '69, among others...
Well, on CMT ( Country Music Television) Crossroads, they paired Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams for a show.. It was AWESOME!!
Click here to see the video of 'Heaven', with Jason Aldean singing lead and Bryan Adams doing back up - they did such a great job on it!

They're "Kid'ding, Right?

Not sure how many of you saw this big announcement this morning on the Today show, but The Dugger Family , all 18 of them, were on and the mom announced she is approximately 3 mos along with # 19 !! WTH????

I'm sorry, I cannot condone this. This is MY blog , and if you don't like it, then GO somewhere else! I mean, come on. I"m glad she is healthy enough to sustain 18 pregnancies so far. I'm glad they can support them. I'm glad that they have alot of love in that family. However, there are sooooo many homeless kiddos out there, that need love,need attention, need someone to care that I just don't believe having 18 kids of your own DNA is responsible in this day and age.

Kate Gosselin was only pregnant twice, and ended up with 8 - ok, I can handle that.
Octomom chose to have that many at one time - thats insanity in my book.

I understand that the Duggers both came from large families. Heck, my grandmother was one of 11 - but they had a farm to look after.

I know what having ONE baby did to my body, I can't even begin to imagine what its done to Mrs. Duggers! I'm not going into that, because I don't want to be mean, but think about it.

Thats my opinion and I'm sticking to it!

I gotta go to work in a few hours, so I'm going to go do some light housework before I get ready. Hope ya'll are having a great day!