Fish News and 1st Report Card

Nathan got his first report card today. I didn't even realize today was progress report day until I was cleaning out Nate's back pack after dinner. The grading system for Kindergarten gives S's, T's and N's.
S= Successfully meeting standards
T= Time/support needed to consistently meet standards
N= Not meeting standards, need attention

NATE GOT ALL S's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 41 of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I told him about his progress report and explained what the S's, T's and N's were he said, "I guess CR (kid who hit him awhile back) got all N's...I tried not to laugh.

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Two weeks ago Reese picked out a baby Dalmatian Molly fish at the pet store. We got him for free because they said he probably wouldn't make it. Well, he thrived until today. I found him stuck to the suction tube of the water filter. I immediately turned it off and out he popped, swimming around like always. Later, I check on him and he was just sitting on the bottom of the tank. By tonight he was dead. I was so sad. I have never mourned a fish, but this little fish was so cute and fun to watch. He was about as big as a little rice crispy. Reese named him Tiny and we would sit at the tank and watch him every day. I hated to tell the kids, and I was shocked when they said, "oh" and then right on playing. I took it harder than they did!

A New Blog

My dear friend Ann-Marie has joined the blogging world! Go check out Cooper's Corner. Meredith, now it's your turn!

Happy Birthday Anna!

Under Construction

Couldn't make changes very easily to my classic template so I'm making some changes. I'm obviously still tweaking it......

Who's Sick?

Does this look like a sick child? Reese has been battling a running rose, fever and cough this week. I decided to keep him home from school again today since he still has a nasty cough and I didn't want him getting anyone else sick. He appears from the playroom with his Diego costume on over his PJ's, his cowboy hat and Nathan's slippers. He politely asks me to get his horse and I capture this picture. If you look closely you can see the glisten of his snotty nose.

Trunk

Our trunk came today. It is absolutely gorgeous! It is from the early 1900's and has been somewhat restored. It looks perfect in the upstairs hallway. The kids and I wondered what "treasures" it might have held in the past. I wonder where it has traveled?

PET Scan Results

I'M HEALTHY!!!!

I'm off to celebrate with an afternoon of shopping with my hubby. Life is good.

$Money$

Nate is crazy about money lately. Back over the summer we cleaned out the playroom and I promised we'd have a garage sale so they could sell their stuff...this is the only way they were agreeable to part with their loot. So, we finally had a garage sale. It is the first time I've had one. Nathan and Reese got personalized cash boxes last Christmas so they set up shop and went to selling. Nathan ran a very serious operation while Reese played in a cardboard box. At the end of 4 hours they made $110 (I contributed some merchandise too). They split the earnings, kept some for spending and we took the rest to the bank today. I set up savings accounts for them back when they were babies and over the years have made deposits when they received money gifts. This was the first time they actually made a deposit of their own. Nathan walked right up to the teller window and told her he wanted to make a deposit and that he also wanted to trade two one dollar bills for a two dollar bill. Unfortunately, they didn't have any two dollar bills, but he did get a one dollar gold coin and that made him happy. The other day when he discovered Santa made a dollar bill he said he wanted one, but he wanted a Santa twenty dollar bill not a one!

We just started giving Nathan an allowance. After he was intrigued by a check mom had written me to pay me back for something I paid him his allowance with a check. I had him sign the back of his check and then I took him to the bank to cash it. The teller had him sign his receipt and he happily walked out of the bank with his cash. It was priceless.

He gets in A in Money 101.

Catchin-up

Week 12/13...now going on 14:

I gave myself week 12 off. My mind just wasn't in the right place. I allowed myself to indulge in food, escape into a good book (Eat, Pray, Love) and relax. I thought the guilt would set in, but it never did. Once week 13 rolled around in came the guilt....knocking loudly at my door. I had doctors orders not to exercise the few days before my upcoming PET scan, but that got rescheduled at the last minute for this week so not a whole lot of running went on last week either. So as I enter week 14 I squeezed in 5 miles today and will take the next two off before my scan on Wednesday. Which thankfully due my mental vacation during week 12 I'm ready to take on the massive PET scan machine to prove there is no cancer residing in my body. In fact, as I lay there, annoyed to be in a position to need a PET scan I'll be telling cancer it can bite my ass because I'm done with it. Come Thursday I'll hit the pavement and catch up to the 7 mile mark where I should be.

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Jake and I finally found the answer to our furniture dilemma for our upstairs hallway. We have this annoying echo problem in our living room. With every piece of furniture added and every curtain hung a little prayer was said that maybe that was the final something that was needed to hush the echo. No such luck. I even asked the woman who cleans the house (she cleaned this house for the people who lived here before too) if she ever noticed an echo. She said no, she never remembered hearing one. We have the same amount of furniture, maybe even more, than the previous owners, but the echo remains. I even thought back to when we looked at the house and I don't remember hearing one. The only thing we can think is that the previous owners had a bookshelf and toy chest in the upstairs hallway (the living room has a high ceiling with an open staircase so you can see the upstairs hallway from downstairs) and we have not one piece of anything up there. We didn't want a bookshelf for fear it would look too cluttered so we've been on the hunt for a unique, but narrow console-ish piece. Here is what we settled on. I never thought we'd choose a red piece, but I love it!

We also chose an antique trunk and runner for the floor. Here's hoping the echo takes a hike and I like red furniture in my hall.

Privates not so private

Today, while volunteering in Nate's class I look up from the board game I'm playing with 4 other kids to see a little boy and girl laying inside a block design which resembled a bed. It sounds innocent enough, but they were laying very close, front to front with their arms around one another. It held my glance for a moment before I turned back to the game. A few moments later I see them in the corner looking down at their mid section occasionally looking up to see if anyone had spotted them. They see me and quickly move on to another "private" location. Ms. C is at her desk doing small group reading so it's my job to hold down the fort as best I can. I realize I'm way over my head when I see the little girl pull down the front of her shorts to show the boy her you know what. I recognize I'm not equipped to handle this situation so I excuse myself from the game and head over to Ms. C and fill her in. I'm sure she's handled numerous situations just like it over the years and I'm SO thankful I didn't have to!

Sunday in pictures

Reese has gotten in the habit of rubbing my necklace and sucking his thumb when he's tired. His thumb sucking is usually reserved for moments when he has his blankie, but for some reason my necklace works just as good for him when he doesn't have his blankie. Strange.

We indulged in a chocolate brownie topped with ice cream and whip cream. The three of us and devour a dessert in no time. Cheers!

After lunch we headed to our favorite pumpkin patch. It was festive despite the 85 degree weather.

Happy Fall!

Glamour

While sitting at the hair salon, reading Glamour Magazine, I came across these two tid bits that made me laugh.....

And yes, I did the unthinkable.....ripped the page out of the magazine when no one was looking, stuffed it into my purse so I could bring it home, scan it in and post it. I promise there was on ad on the reverse side no one would miss!

And this.......

Glamour Asks, Men Answer

The answer to this question: When you first see a woman naked, what are you most curious about?

"Her breasts. With all the advances in bra technology, you never really know how they're going to look" - Ken, 34

Something I've never thought of from a guys perspective, yet so true!

Growing Boys

The boys had their 6 year and 3 year check-ups. I love that they get to have their appointments together and we get it over and done with. Thank goodness no shots this time around! Reese is good until his 5th birthday and Nate until his 12th! That is the first question Nate asks when it's time for a doctor's appointment. I guess he takes after his Uncle Will when it comes to shots!

Here are their stats:

Reese
40.5 "
36 lbs.

Nate
49.5"
52.5 lbs.

HEALTHY, BIG BOYS! I only know how to make babies in one size, TALL!

Little Bits and a Secret

Nathan and Reese with Cousin Scarlett at Grandma's house showing off their fancy Halloween PJ's
Nathan had a field trip to a pizza joint today. They got a tour of the kitchen and made their own pizza. This sign was posted on the refrigerator and made me laugh.
Here is Nathan and his cutie pie friend, Rachel, on the field trip.
Nathan got a lesson on pizza dough making

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If you haven't read the book or seen the DVD, The Secret, you absolutely have to. It is life changing. I watched it again the other day to help me with my "post cancer demons" and it really helped. Without going in to great detail........all the cancer talk I've done lately has brought some of my deepest fears to the surface. I simply can not function this way. After Saturday's Making Strides walk I'm retiring my cancer story indefinitely and outside of my Reach to Recovery work (which really is minimal) I'm focusing on normal everyday living. I even considered changing my blog name, but after Lemonade made such a beautiful page for me I think I'll leave it alone.

If you do watch/read, The Secret, I'd love to hear what you thought!

Another Birth Story

This comes to you one day early...the kids and I leave later today to visit my Grandmother and I didn't want to miss sharing the birth day of little Reese.

It was the horrible hurricane season of 2004 and I was exhausted from evacuating.....begging my doctor to let me stay in the hospital instead of joining the rest of Florida on the highway, but to no avail. Finally, on my 38 week checkup he suggested I be induced the following Monday as Reese was already 8+ pounds. I had had a nasty "exit wound" with Nathan and the doctor did not want that to happen again. I jumped at the opportunity, while Jake hesitated a little bit, wanting Reese to come when he was ready. I obviously vetoed him and we headed to the hospital the afternoon of October 4th. When we arrived at the hospital I was already having contractions so Jake felt better about our intervention. I made it very clear to the doctor the moment I found out I was pregnant that a wanted an epidural this time and after an evening on pitocin I got one at 4 cm. Praise the Lord! It was a beautiful thing. I literally slept for about an hour after getting the epidural and Jake caught up on some reading. I woke up about the time the doctor came to check me and I was 9 cm....and had slept through the whole thing! Not 15 minutes after the doctor left I told Jake I needed to push.......they grabbed the doctor before he left and 25 minutes later Reese entered the world at 1:25 pm Tuesday, October 5th, weighing 8 lbs. 4 oz. As the nurses were cleaning him up he screeched "OUCH" (or what sure sounded like it) and the room filled with laughter. We should have known then he would be a chatterbox! Happy 3rd birthday little man.

The Party in Pictures

When the cake I was to make literally fell apart while I was decorating it the night before the party, I decided to served the blob of a cake for breakfast and the kids forgot all about their disappointment of having to go to the store to buy a replacement cake.

Birthday boys in their thrones!

Attack of the girls!

Is that the face of a good time, or what?

Checking the air hockey score....did we win?

The super cool stickers I splurged on. Everyone LOVED them!