News

In a news article dated 11-7-05

Fennville
Fire damages duplex
Fennville firefighters were called to work early Sunday morning when a two-story duplex on East Main Street caught fire around 6:30 a.m.
The duplex owner was awakened by a smoke detector. He, his wife, and two tenants were able to get out of the residence safely.
"The structure is still standing, but as far as the house and the residents are concerned, they are probably at a total loss," said Fennville Fire Chief Stan Babbitt.
Babbitt said that although the cause of the fire is still under investigation, he believes it may have originated in the home's furnace.
While battling the blaze, a Fennville firefighter fell through a hole in the first floor and landed in the basement, where the fire began. He was uninjured, said Babbitt.
Firefighters from Saugatuck, Clyde Township, Hamilton and Ganges responded to the scene.

The highlighted part is the intresting part. The firefighter that fell through the floor, was ..... My husband. He neglected to tell me about this when he got home on Sunday. But then Monday, since this article came out in the paper, and it was getting around town already that it was Doug , he thought maybe he should tell me before I heard it from someone else.... Gee GREAT idea!! Good thing he did because I went into town to pay car insurance and the agent asked if Doug needed more life ins. He'd already heard about it on Sunday,, geez. I though he was just running the truck, since I had heard him on the radio via my scanner... he did that for awhile, but then packed up and went in.... He wonders why Ladder 49 isn't my favorite movie!!

Another year older

Well, it happened, my first born has turned 10... a whole decade old... 2 digits... Gosh, you'd think I was dwelling on this, okay, maybe I am, when I look back on the last 10 years, so many things have happened. I've had 2 children, lost both my parents and an uncle, bought a house, went from working full time to part time, and well, basically got 10 years older. The scary thing is, when I look into the next decade ( hoping I'll be around that much longer, you just never know) There are so many more changes that will occur... I will have a child in College, or so I hope, and I will have another, just about to get his drivers license, can you imagine how many jobs I will have to work to pay for college and car ins. for a 16 year old boy??!!! YIKES!!! My baby will be 6 in 9 days.
I will be having surgery... On your Birthday Amy... Think of me at 4:30am your time, being put under for the next 3 hours... and then waking up feeling nasty for a few weeks. I am really nervous about it. I'm also concerned about how Doug is going to handle this. He doesn't have any vacation time, so he can't really take much time off. I am going to have to rely on the help of friends and hope the kids are good helpers. I have so much to do to get the house in order, I need to meal plan, and get some meals made that Doug can just take out of the freezer and warm up, I have to write out laundry instructions... stuff like that, Doug did say, that with the laundry, I wont' be wearing anything nice, so he doesn't have to worry about ruining anything. If only my Mom were around to help. I REALLLY don't want my MIL around, I haven't even told her about it!
The leaves are so pretty right now, we hope to get a family picture taken of us in our yard at some point in the next week or so, nothing professional, just a friend of ours is going to take some pictures and then we can get some blown up. Nothing fancy.... but that's how we are.
Brad had a Webelos camp out Friday night, they slept in tents, brrrr. He said his toes were pretty cold when he woke up in the morning, but he had a great time. Mimi and Papa took the boys out to Pizza Hut too, to celebrate thier birthdays. So while they were out, Doug and I checked out the new resturant in town called O Charley's , I had a French dip, it was pretty good, Doug had a burger.
Guess I'd better get to bed, mornings come WAY too early !!! I don't really like getting up early, but once I'm up and showered, i'm a happy camper, if I sleep late, I feel lazy all day and that just bugs me!

Fall is in the air....

Goodness, what a difference a day makes... As in the weather! It was 62 this morning when the kids went out to the bus, now it is 52, which is where it's been since later this afternoon, a cold front came through and it got chilly. Not supposed to be too much warmer tomorrow, which is the kick off for the Goose Festival in town. The Fire Truck parade will be at 6 pm tomorrow night, Doug and the boys will be in the parade, it's always a fun time. Doug is at the station now getting the station all clean for company, and the trucks all shiney ( this is usually when they get a major call, when everything is parade ready!) Other area departments come to show off thier trucks too, Then they have sandwhiches ect after the parade, we always enjoy that! Saturday the Goose Festival big parade is at 1pm ( don't quote me on that) Doug will again be in it with a truck and Brad will be marching with the Scouts.. he's so exicted! I also have to have my bake sale stuff at the Fire Station by 10:30am.. the Scouts are having a bake sale. The FAFD always has a Chicken BBQ on Saturday during the Goose Festival, great place for lunch, and then this year, you can buy dessert to take home! I will spend tomorrow between popping popcorn at school for PTO and volunteering in Ryan's classroom, baking, I will have a small window between after school and before the parade too.... busy weekend. Popcorn is usually between 8-10:30am and then Centers in Ry's class is from 2-2:45. Ryan is "cooking" in his class tomorrow also, so I need to find out what time they do that, I'd like to get some pictures.. They are making "ugly bugs" These consist of lg marshmallows, pretzel sticks, frosting and mini m-n-m's I was the mom that volunteered to bring these items in.... I see some sort of pattern with me... I also volunteered to take in healthy snacks for Brad's classroom this week for the MEAPS tests. I took in enough for 3 days.... if only Brad could get extra credit for that, it may help his grades.. wishful thinking. Bradley's teacher sent home a 1/2 way progress report, he also sends hom weekly reports.. Brad seems to forget/lose 2 assignments a week, I ask about homework, I check the website for homework and he says he did it.... Any advice from the teachers out there on this problem?? He's getting above C's but missing too many assignments. I'm hoping that won't happen this week... we'll see. Report cards come home the day before his birthday. Ryan can't /won't learn to tie his shoes.... why is it, he can read a 2nd grade book but won't even attempt to try the shoe thing, he says his friend Zachary will do it for him.
I guess I will sign off for the night, it's just about past my bedtime and it appears I have a busy day tomorrow!

Picture of the First Day of school

Ryan and Bradley are just about ready to head out for the bus in this picture. It is Ryan's 1st day of Kindergarten , and Brad is in 4th Grade.... wow! Ryan was finally starting to look awake here.... He is NOT a morning person!

Wow!

Wow, I can't belive it's been so long since my last post. I just wanted to pop on here a minute and say, I'm sorry!! I will be posting again before long, so much has been going on, it will take a long time to catch up!! I do have to say, I'ts October 3rd and it's 74 degrees at 7:34 am and the heat index is 78, isnt' that odd!!
Better run, I have to Assist today at the office, I'm covering for Jo whom is ill today.

Hope everyone is well!

So it begins...

Well, Ryan woke up this morning, all stuffed up and coughing like crazy... I'm hoping it's just an allergy thing, I know mine have been really bad and Brad's having trouble with his too.
Yesturday I worked all day as the Assistant to the Dr. I don't do that very often anymore, so it felt really good to refresh my skills, from 3-5 I had to be both the Assistant and the Receptionist, that is a challenge, I was exhausted by the end of the day! Today, I am off. I am supposed to go help JoAnn close her pool depending on how she is feeling. I need to get mine all clean so we can get that ready to close too. It's still really nice out, but everyone is so busy we just arent' using it.

Okay, So it takes me days to finish a post sometimes. I did go help JoAnn close her pool on Thursday, we were done before noon. Now I have to get ours cleaned up, it seems to want to turn into a lake, so I need to get some algicide today and make sure it's spotless before I put the winter chemicals in and then drain it down a little to cover it up. I prefer to do all the work now, to make sure it's easy to get going in the spring.

I took the boys to the fair Friday after they got home from school, they each played a game and won a stuffed animal. Then we wandered around looking at stuff, and got our junk food and left, we were home before 6pm. Then we had supper ( we didn't eat too much junk food, too expensive) Then Doug and Brad went to the Football game, I had Ryan in bed by 8pm and he was sound asleep by 8:10pm. He's still not feeling the greatest...

More soon....

Prayers

Please keep in your prayers, The Sessions family. They have lost thier son Mike on Saturday morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. They will have a private buriel of his ashes this week, and there will be a memorial service on Sunday at St. Peters. The family is very overwhelmed and it hasn't completly sunk in yet. There was a steady stream of cars over there today. I took them Chicken Lasagna and a cake. I used to wonder why people took food to a grieving family, until I lost my parents. It really does help, you sure don't feel like eatting, let alone cooking. If you read his obituary in the paper, he wrote it himself. His family will carry out his wishes. It's all so sad, my heart goes out to them.

Me and my "baby"

Bradley took a picture of me and Ryan, sorry about the glare from the flash!

Update on the first day of school

The boys had a great day! They were both talking a mile a minute when I got home from work. Brad LOVES school, as does Ryan. They both had a lot of fun! Ryan is already sound asleep and Bradley is still stalling.... When I finally get pictures developed from today I will post them. I should probably post a current picture from this spring/summer, I guess it's been awhile! Yikes!

I'll be praying for a healthy school year!!

First day of school

Well, I've just sent my baby off to school for the whole entire Looooong day of school. His first day of Kindergarten. I will admit, as soon as he rode away on the bus... I cried... I am really excited for him and he was really excited, but this morning, he got nervous about getting off the bus in the morning and finding his class. I took him everyday last year , because he didn't go to school until 11:30. When I woke him up this morning at 6:40am, he got out of bed, stood for a minute and then said, " I can't even stand" and climbed back into bed. We cuddled for a few minutes and then he got dressed, then came out for breakfast. He usually drinks warm choc milk in the morning and loafs in bed for awhile... he's done this for years. Today he sat at a table stareing at a bowl of Rice Krispies... He ate a few bites and said he was done. I fed him a few more bites, while he watched Brad inhale his breakfast, while telling Ryan it's a long time until lunch! (Brad I belive has a hollow leg or two) I took a bunch of pictures while he was still in bed , while he was getting dressed, while he was eating his few bites of breakfast and then of course getting ready to leave and then one getting on the bus. I got some good pictures of both the boys together. As I'm taking pictures of them waiting for the bus, Mady came over and I got pictures of her with the boys, it reminded me of the pictures from my first day of Kindergarten waiting for the bus with Amy... Anyway I'm still all weepy, but have gotton ironing done and will in a moment leave for town and then run errands then I'll get ready for work, so I will miss to boys getting off the bus today, I'll be at work. Mrs Sessions is helping me with the boys after school on Tuesday's and Wednesdays. They can get a snack here at home and use our bathroom, but then Ryan can play with Elijah after school while Brad does his homework... Brad is "babysitting" after school... Little does he know it's under the watchful eye of the neighbors, I love this neighborhood!
Guess I'd better get to my errands! Thursday will be my first day ALL day with no kids home and no work to go to.... how odd, guess I'll finish painting Brad's room! Still can't get over my lonely feeling, what am I going to do when Ryan goes off to college??

Last weekend

Boy scout camp was intresting. We of course stayed in a rustic campground.... Pit toilets were the only "luxury" Well, I don't like to camp like that, neither does Bradley, so he asked Mimi and Papa if we could borrow thier camper, surprisingly, they let us. Doug was not happy, he thought the whole thing was a lot of hassle for less than 24 hours... at 4:30am when it started to thunder, lightening and pour rain, he was then happy about the whole thing. Bradley went on lots of hikes, went fishing and cooked over an open fire. He also helped do the dishes after breakfast. Ryan even had a good time, he was swinging off a rope into the lake.. Something Brad wouldn't even do. Doug, Ryan and I left around 10am, we left Brad there with Dave & Denise ( his friend Matthew's parents, they also took him so he was there before us) Doug helped me unload the camper and then he was off to the fire station to work. I then cleaned out the camper, really REALLY well, I heard it looked better then when it was loaned to us ( my goal) then I packed for the next adventure. We left for Brighton around 3pm, that is where our Niece Andrea and her husband Ryan live. Brad and Doug had tickets to a Tigers game for Sunday, and "big" Ryan ( as known when we are around with "little" Ryan) has season tickets and a parking pass. So They were all riding together. My sister and brother in law were there too, house hunting. Anyway, The boys slept almost all the way to Annies, they were exhausted from the camping adventure! The next day I went to Kohls with Annie and Debbie and got some good deals for the boys for school, and then we went back to the house and everyone got ready to leave, Debbie & Terry to go house hunting, Annie,Ryan, Doug and Bradley to go to the game and then I was going to Novi to go shopping at Twelve Oaks mall. I also had plans to meet a friend from school and my Mortgage guy Scott around 1pm, he was taking me and Ryan out for lunch. We had a nice visit. The mall didn't consist of much shopping with Ryan around, it was more like we traveled from Escalator to Escalator to elevator... get the picture?? He had fun, I was exhausted. We ate dinner with the family before we hit the road around 7 or so. Everyone had a great time, busy weekend.. and the Tigers won!

Mini vacation

We've done it again. We were supposed to go to Debbies ( Doug's sister) Friday night for a BBQ/Pool party on Saturday. Needless to say, Doug was too tired to go after work, so we decided to go on Saturday. Doug had brought home a Kia Sportage to test drive from work ( his boss has it for sale) So we went for a test drive Friday night and decided to try the Jeep Cheereke (sp?) instead, since we couldn't pull the boat or a camper (if we were to ever get one) any distance. ( Doug is thinking of selling the boat to buy a camper instead). So then he took that back Saturday morning, while he and Brad were gone, I showered and started packing to leave when they got back. Ryan was still sleeping , past 9:45 when the door bell started ringing non stop, that would be Ainsly ( age 4) from next door... ( If I ever did this to you and your family Amy Sorry!!! ) Needless to say, Ryan woke up and not very happy! But I asked him if he'd like to get in the tub and he was in , instantly ( he loves his bathes!!) So I washed him all up, then he played... the whole time I finished getting ready to go. By the time Doug and Brad were back, I was ready to go out the door, we decided to eat on the way. So off we went. We got to Debbies and the kids went right in the pool... as did everyone else. So we swam, had ribs and chicken and all kinds of yummies. Then after dinner we decided to go to the Casino with Doug's mom and other sister Sue. We each took in $20, Mine was gone after about 45 minutes. Doug was down to about $1.50 when he started doing well, he ended up winning back my $20 plus his $20 plus another $13... okay, so it wasn't a fortune, but who cares, as long as we actually left with a little more than we came with!! Doug' s mom and sister lost thier $50+ each. We got home, played cards, put the kids to bed ( Annie ( neice/deb's daughter) ) got Ryan in the tub, Annie asked Ryan if he needed a bath, he said yes, it had been a couple days since he'd had one... goofy kid, see how much he loves his bathes! Brad on the other hand didn't want anything to do with it ( he's the one that needed one , he did get one the next morning) Sunday morning we got up, showered, fed and Doug was ready to go... we said our good-bye and we were on our way. When we got to the end of the road, the car decided to go North, rather than south. We decided to surprise the kids with the Mackinaw Bridge.. They were really excited. We shopped in Mackinaw City for awhile, then we went across the bridge into St. Ignace, on the north side of town is a resturant called North Bay or something like that, it is across the road from the water, and they have buffets a lot and fairly decent food, sort of a hometown resturant type thing, we've eaten there lots of times on our trips up north before kids. So Ryan finished every bite of his grilled cheese, Brad had lots of spaghetti, Doug had a cod fish sandwich and I had a hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy, 1/2 an order of it anyway... just the right size. Then we went back to Mackinaw City and got dippen dots for dessert ( yes we are still liking the dippen dots) Then we stopped in a shop where they had a cinnamon candle burning that smelled SO good, I couldn't go home without it. Then we headed towards home, via US 31. On our way in Oden there was a fish hatchery place with a visitors center. We walked over 1/2 a mile to see the hatchery and saw a creek viewing area where you see fish in thier natural envioronment. We also got to a fish pond where they had really big brown and rainbow trout, for a dime, you'd get a handful of fish food, so we fed the fish for awhile, the kids loved it, it was a lot of walking, but so worth it, it was a beautiful day!! Then we drove through Petoskey, and Traverse city and stopped in the Cadillac area for one last time, we got Little Caesars pizza ( hot and ready) they gave us some plates and napkins and then we stopped at Meijers for drinks , gas and a potty stop. We ate on the way pizza isn't the easiest to feed to kids on the road but it was cheap, and that's what they asked for when we saw Little Caesars. We have found it's a looooooooong trip anywhere when you don't have a portable DVD player!!!! We got home about 10pm. We had lots of fun! Next weekend... we go to Brighton after the Boy Scout camp out Friday night...

The wedding

Okay, so back to my last post. Saturday on our vacation was a nice low key day. We all rode on the motorcycle trike my Uncle built. I got a tour of the town and how much it's grown, and where everyone lives now. Then we had lunch, Then we were off to the beach. I told Doug I felt like I was laying in the wrong direction as I laid on the beach! ha ha. The kids were so happy, not being cooped up in a car and just playing in the sand, building things. We stayed for a few hours. It was soooooo nice. Then we got "home" and took showers and then Doug went to the gas station to fill up the gas tank and ice in the cooler. While Doug was gone, I got everything all packed up. We did 3 sweeps through the house, to make sure we had everything and we were off back to my cousin Ann's house for the wedding. The Justice of the P. got there just after 4pm ( it was a 4pm wedding) and then Boyd ( fiance ) stood up on the deck with Cody ( Daneens oldest son ) and then Kori ( Daneen's oldest daughter) walked up on the deck, the Kellcie was next ( daughter of bride and groom) and then Daneen came up on deck, it was a nice scene more like a family was being wed. The ceremony took all of maybe 10 minutes. Then we had dinner. There was beef and noodles, ham sandwiches, fruit, salads, you name it, they had it. Brad kept filling up his plate. Around 6:30pm we decided it was time to hit the road. We said our goodbyes, lots of hugs and kisses later we were on our way. We stopped at at TA travel center for a pit stop and for Doug to get some coffee, got the kids in thier jammies and back on the road. We got to Chicago about dark, so the kids got to see the city all lit up. Not too long after that the kids fell asleep and slept until we got home. They didn't even remember getting home. It was an awsome trip!!

Family Vacation

Well, we had a GREAT time on our vacation! We got to Six Flags Great America Thursday around 11 am , it was HOT. It was actually really exciting to drive through Chicago, we took the Skyway route. The kids thought the big city was pretty cool. Even seeing steel mills in Indiana and lots of trains was thrilling for them! We borrowed a portable DVD player so that really helped the car ride, although, by Benton Harbor, Ryan asked if we were there yet! Anyway, we got to the park and went to Hurricane Harbor , the water park. Parking was $10, admission was way more than that, and locker rental for the day was $10... yikes... anyway, we did rent a locker at Hurricane Harbor, This is a fun place!! Especially if you like to wait in line! ha ha. Lazy river was Bradley's favorite, I really tried hard to not get wet, but with water falls all along the route, that was not possible. ( I wanted to keep my hair looking nice when we got to the relatives....) Then we went to the wave pool for awhile, Ryan loved jumping the waves, but he made me a little nervous because those were BIG waves and he was too daring and not afraid of anything. After that, we went to Skull Island, a whole interactive water area for kids with lots of slides and things to climb on for all ages. We spent a lot of time there. I lost Bradley once, I stood in one spot, since I knew he wouldn't he eventually showed up, I also knew Doug and Ryan were wandering around in there somewhere. Then the kids got hungry... food prices.... OUCH, but I was prepared for that, I knew it wouldn't be cheap. We got pizza and fries ( it came in that combination, very odd) but we all shared that and one Diet coke... so we all ate off of $13... until we needed a $3.75 bottle of water.. Ryan doesn't drink pop, which is great, i'm not complaining!! Then we played in the water again for awhile , Ryan was getting overheated and exhausted, so we decided around 5 or so, that it was time to go. We hit the gift shop, and both boys got an orange T-shirt that says, Hurricane Harbor Six Flags, surprisingly, they were only $8.99 each, I really didn't think that was too bad. We had to stop on our way out of six flags to get Dippen Dot, I'd never had these or even knew what they were, I have to admit, they are very good, and not messy at all. We could of gotton 4 more shirts for the price though! ha ha ha ha. It was so hot they turned on the people misters in the amusment park area. So then we got on the road, went down a little ways and then went to Cracker Barrel for supper. Then we got back on the road, as soon as we hit Milwaukee we hit rush hour and construction, not a good combination, but we didn't get tied up too long, we got through most of Milwaukee and I called my cousin to let her know where we were ( Just went passed the big mall, I knew she'd know exactly where we were then! ) She said everyone was by her sister Ann's getting stuff ready for the wedding, so she gave us instructions and we went there , Ryan was excited to see a swing set to play on. We hung out there for 1/2 hour or so, then we went to Uncle Bills' We chatted for awhile, Bradley went for a ride on the Motorcycle trike Uncle Bill built and then Ryan went. Then it was jammie time and I got Ryan to sleep, (didn't take too long) then I sent Bradley in to bed, also didn't take him long to go to sleep. They both slept on the sleeper sofa in the den together. I wasn't to sure how they would do, but once Ryan was asleep, all went well. They woke up around 7:30am Wisconsin time which is fairly normal for them to be up by 8:30am. Then Uncle Bill and Aunt Audrey made us French toast and bacon for breakfast, and then we were back on our way to Six Flags for day 2. It was a little cooler out thankfully, cooler meaning in the mid to upper 80's rather than 90's. We went on the train first so we could basicallly see the whole park, sort of an overview... Just before we were to get back to the station, the train broke down... we sat for an extra 20 minutes. We were stuck under the raging bull rollercoaster, so there was plenty to watch. I would NOT go on that coaster, it looked pretty intense... I'm just not brave enough. We finally got back to the station. Then we wandered, we went on the cars you drive that are on the track... Ryan is not ready to drive.. but at least he tried, good thing there was a track . We also went to the kiddie rides and thea kids rode a lot of those, standing in line was pretty hot. There was a kid rollercoaster, Brad was GEEKED!! So we stood in line for 45 minutes, Ryan was pretty excited about it too. Doug and Bradley got on first, so they rode the 30 second ride, Bradley was ready to go again, then Ryan and I got on, Ryan was all smiles, we go up the big hill, up pretty high, I asked Ryan if he was scared, he said NO!!! all smiles, then..... we went down the hill, really fast. It was a pretty fun ride, although Ryan yelled no no no no, I want off pretty much the whole 30 seconds. The look of terror was on his face once we went over the hill... Poor kid, he was shaking really bad when we got off and he said, no more, I'm not going again, all done, no more.... ( You get the picture) He recovered quickly and we went on to more mild rides. We also had quite a few more dippen dots while there, I kid you not, I swear we spend $60 on dippen dots the whole time we were there. We had Character pictures drawn of the kids, we are going to frame them and put them up in the basement. We also had our picture taken when we came into the park, so we got that on our way out, Ryan of course looked goofy, but what's new... ha ha we left around 7pm and then we went to the Outlet mall across the street , we went to the Rainforest Cafe for supper, Ryan asked to sit by the fish and sure enough, we were by a big fish tank, made his day! They loved it there too. Then we were off to Uncle Bill's again. We got the kids to bed a little while later and then we weren't too far behind. More on Saturday in my next post.. need to get to the school for a last day party for the summer reading and art fun class. It's been very nice having the kids gone every morning from 9-noon. I've gotton so much done around here!! I think I may actually have a chance at a clean house when school starts!

Later!

Football already??

Well, Bradley is attending Football camp at school, Its' just a 4 day thing, but Rocket Football sign-up is Saturday and Wednesday, so it's good that he goes to camp before sign up. He's been a little apprehensive about playing football. After Monday he said he still doesn't want to play football, and after yesturday, he really wants to play football, I guess we'll see what today brings! Today will also be his last day of camp, we will be leaving on our Family vacation tomorrow morning. I don't want to push Bradley into playing football, and I also don't want to discourage him, seems to be a fine line with this sport. The practice schedule is pretty intense and starts 2 weeks before school starts. I worry about his school work suffering.

I found out last night at a concert in the park in town, that Darcy Wilken the Camp Blackhawk teacher, will no longer do Camp Blackhawk, she got hired as the Art teacher in the Elementary. I have to say I'm bummed about the Camp Blackhawk thing, but I am THRILLED she got the teaching job. She really enjoys it, and she's really good at it. My kids love her! Bradley want's to be a latch key kid this year, Darcy thinks he will do fine, she said he's very responsible... almost too responsible. I'd have to agree, he's really growning up. It's not like he'd be home for very long and it's also not like I work 1/2 hr away.

About our vacation, we are going to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee Illinios, we leave early tomorrow morning, we will spend the day at the park and then we will drive an hour or so north to my Aunt and Uncles' in Wisconsin to stay, then Friday morning, we will get up again and go back to the park and then spend the day and then go back to my Aunt and uncles. It's been over 10 years since I was in Wisconsin, I have lots of cousins there and it will be great to see Uncle Bill and Aunt Audrey. Uncle Bill is my Mom's brother ( they are not like eachother at all, you'd think he was my Dad's brother instead!! ) Anyway, I haven't seen my Aunt and Uncle or a couple of cousins since my Mom's funeral and others since my Dad's funeral. So I"m really looking forward to going to see everyone! There is also a wedding on Saturday for my cousin Daneen. This will be her second.

Better run, I need to get to work and then have a busy afternoon running errands, laundry and packing!!

It's August already??!!

What is the deal with this summer flying by?? I am really not ready for school to start. Last year was really tough on us, with Ryan being sick all the time, I don't really want to start that whole cylce over again. Why can't people keep thier sick kids home?? I guess I'm really lucky that my job allows me to be home when I have to be. I will also be changing my hours, so I will no longer work Mondays when school starts, I will only work my noon to 6 (ish) Tuesdays and 8-5 on Wednesdays. Which is actually perfect, because if JoAnn's daughter gets sick or her, I am there to Assist if needed. I pretty much always work with Nancy except she leaves at 4, so if I can't be there due to illness in the household, then someone just has to cover those late afternoon hours. That's the reason I work as a Receptionist rather than an Assistant now, less hassle when someone in the house is sick.
Our pool has been giving us grief, I for the life of me can't keep chemicals in it. It went cloudy over a week ago, and I just about had it clear, when it got chilly for a couple days, and the solar cover went on, and back to cloudy.... grrrr I wouldn't trade having the pool for anything. After growing up with it ( well, since 7th grade) I think it's great for my kids. Basically, I guess they are growing up the same way I did... ( But hopefully not afraid of thier mother ).
Doug and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. It was pretty uneventful. I did get new brakes and rotors for my car, that was my gift, I even had to buy them myself. ha ha. Doug installed them Friday night, and it's so nice to not have my car make an awful noise and vibrate like crazy every time I put on my brakes. Now today, I will get him his anniversary gift , I will get 2 new tires put on my van. How exciting! ha ha ( we've always been WAY to practical ) We leave Thursday morning for vacation though, so we want to be safe.
Our vacation will consist of driving to Gurnee IL. to go to Six Flags on Thursday. I got coupons to get 2 days for the price of 1, so we will spend one day in the water park and the next in the amusment park ( or so we think that's how it will go) My Aunt and Uncle in Wisconsin live about an hour north of Six Flags so we will drive to thier house Thursday night , stay the night and then drive back to Six Flags on Friday morning. We will spend the day there again, and then drive back to my Aunt & Uncles Friday night and then my cousin is getting married on Saturday afternoon. After the wedding is dinner and then after dinner, we are going to make the trip home. We should be home before midnight. The we can all sleep in our own beds. We borrowed a portable DVD player for the trip, so that should help with the kids. We've already taken it on a test drive and the trip was so quiet.
The annual Blackhawk Scamble golf outing for the Atletic boosters was on Saturday. Doug missed it this year, but I did buy 2 raffle tickets, although, I didn't win anything. JoAnn's husband won a few things and one of the things he won, was 2 tickets to a Detroit Tigers baseball game, on Sun. Aug 21st, 9 rows up from the dugout. JoAnn called me yesturday and said Rick ( her husband) wanted her to call and ask, if it would be okay to give those tickets to Bradley... He'd been to a game a month or so back with his Grandpa and Uncle and cousin and had a GREAT time. He had asked Rick for all kinds of advice on who's autograph to get ect. Then after the game he couldn't stop talking about it. He'd had SO much fun. ( He loves baseball) , I of course said Yes!! Doug was wanting to take Brad to another game, but we just havent' had to money, so this was awsome!! So Rick then called back and talked to Brad and told him when he sees his van in the driveway, to come out because he wanted to talk to him, so then Brad was out pacing in the driveway waiting, then Rick gave him the tickets, he was so overwhelmed, he was almost speechless ( and that's not easy to do ha ha) Brad is SO excited, Rick even said, he couldn't think of a better kid to give those tickets to. How nice is that??!! So Brad will take his program back to the game and try to get more autographs.
Well, I guess I'd better get back to my laundry.... More soon ( I hope!! )

Busy, Busy, Busy

Summer thus far has been a whirlwind. T-ball ended Saturday. Ryan missed his last game. At his game last Thursday, he came up to me after being in the outfield and said his tummy hurt. So I got up folded up my chair and said, "Let's go" People looked at me funny. But Ryan never complains about his tummy hurting, especially when he's doing something he really enjoys. So I gathered up Bradley and we left. As soon as I got Ryan in the car with the air on and he drank some water, he felt fine. It was just too hot for him. It was in the upper 80's and really humid. We came home and went swimming and all was good. Then Saturday morning Ryan got up and wanted to take a bath before he went to t-ball, So he got undressed and his left thigh was about the size of mine. Something bite him, but he didn't know what or when, he also said it didn't hurt, just itched. So I called the Dr. they wanted to see him. So his appt. was smack dab in the middle of his last T-ball game. So at the Dr. she said, something bite him.... ha ha. she marked the worst area and said if it got red outside the area, to call back and she'd put him on an antibiotic. He's allergic to so many they don't like to put him on anything, unless it's really REALLY nessicary. She also put him on a big dose of Benedryl. He took his first dose before we left and within 1/2 hr. he was sound asleep in the car. After the Dr. appt. Saturday, I had to be back to the school by noon. Bradley had his scout Rocket launch. They were also having a cook out and awards ceremony. Did I fail to mention, that Brad is an offical Scout?? He's a Webalo. All official. His friend Matthew got him into it. His Dad is a den leader. So I feel comfortable with Brad doing this. Dave ( Matthew's Dad) even picked up Brad's uniform Monday, so now Brad's even more excited. He leaves Wednesday for camp, and then he'll be back Saturday.

Oh my , I started this back on June 30th and never got around to getting it finished, see what I mean by busy!

Well Bradley has been to camp. I guess the food wasn't great, and the sleeping conditions were.... tents... no night light, but he had a GREAT time! He's ready to go back next year. They were exhausted when they got home. Not 2 hours later, his friend Matthew was on the phone wondering if he could come over and try out his new remote control boat in our pool. So he came over while his parents and sister went up to Holland to get the pictures developed. They took Bradley's film for us too. The pictures were really cool, Bradley always had a big smile on his face. Dave said, after seeing the boys in camp and all the stuff they did, that every kid should have a chance to go, Meaning they should all be scouts. I know I have great memories of Girl Scout camp, although, I went every summer for 2 weeks at a time, as did my sister. My parents would send us a postcard from where they were vacationing.
We spent Sunday on the boat. We left from Saugatuck and rode to Holland on Lake Michigan. Ryan fell asleep, We weren't even 1/2 way to Holland yet. Doug noticed and I grabbed his life jacket just as he was about to fall over, and so Doug slowed down and I picked Ryan up to put him on my lap and he said "What..... What??.....) I told him he was falling asleep and he said he wasn't , he was just bored ( aka.... sleepy , he doens't like to admit he's tired) so I got him on my lap and we took off again, and he was out like a light. We got to the State Park in Holland and there were tons of boats anchored there, so we anchored close to the swimming area, and then I found out, Doug brought the umbrella and stand from our patio set, we don't have a canopy on the boat and we can't get out of the sun, so he puts up the umbrella and tied it to the windshield area and we had wonderful shade!! What a great idea, even if we didn't look like the people that have $60,000 + boats. The water was about 70 but once you got in, it wasn't so bad, Ryan was having a ball in the water, This kid doesn't care where he is, he just LOVES to be in the water. Throw a life jacket on him, he doesn't even mind if the water is 2' , 6' , 10' or 50' he just wants to be in it. Brad is a lot more timid, but he did manage to get in for a little bit. We hung out for awhile and then went into Lake Macatawa and beached the boat across from the Ottawa Beach Inn and had supper there, they were having a Chicken BBQ, it was yummy. Then we made our way back to Saugatuck and got home around 7:30pm. It was a great day. Today we picked up Matthew and went out to Hutchins Lake for the afternoon , we were going to go tubing, but we never got that far. We stopped at McFarlands to get the tube on the boat ect. and the boys started playing with the remote control boat again, and then they swam like crazy again, then Doug got paged to a fire and that was it, he dropped me and the boys at home, so then they had to swim in the pool for the rest of the afternoon.... tough life huh?? Then Bradley went home with Matthew and we'll pick him up tomorrow morning for swimming lessons.
Speaking of swimming lessons, Both boys did really great on thier first day... which is testing day, Ryan is in a group with a bunch of kids WAY bigger than him... he really swims like a fish, but that's just it.... like a fish, he'd does better under the water than on top. Brad is in the top class again. We'll have thier lessons everyday for 2 weeks now.
Speaking of Doug he took vacation days today and tomorrow, so he got to see the boys at swimming lessons for the first time..... ever.

I am in the process of re-decorating our bathroom... I'll post more on that next time, hopefully not so far in the future!!

Laundry calls, need to run!

Summer is flying by...

Gosh, it's really hard to belive June if over 1/2 over. I personally love summer! I just wish I could afford to do more with the kids. There are so many movies they want to see, and want to mini golf and stuff like that, but there just isnt' the extra money. I sometimes feel like it's so unfair to them, to not be able to do all that fun extra stuff with them, but should I feel that way? They have a swingset in the backyard, we have a swimming pool in the back yard, they have toys, bikes ect. isnt' that what summer is really all about? Having summer fun at home playing with all your friends? I hope so. Did I mention the kids pool hop with the neighbors. I think Ryan likes to be at the neighbors pool better than ours at times, because it has a bigger more shallow, shallow end, and he can play without his floaties. Oh, I also forgot to mention, Ryan has graduated to swimmies on his arms, rather than his body floaty. He is really doing a good job. He goes underwater and swims too. They start swimming lessons in about a month, I'm glad they are in the middle of summer, because Ryan will test better and end up in a good group where he'll learn more than, how to put your face into the water. More exciting news, It was a nasty cold rainy day yesturday, but the rain had stopped somewhat, so the kids were outside playing, I was inside on my hands and knees scubbing my kitchen and dining room floors (which are so old they never look beautifully clean) and Brad starts screaming and yelling hysterically, I'm thinking someone was just run over by a car or somthing worse ( hard to tell if he was upset, or excited) well my fears were put to rest when I could finally figure out what was going on, Ryan was riding his bike without training wheels!!!! I guess Brad was going to fix the wheels because one had come loose again, and so he put the wheels up instead of down and then took off on Ryan's bike, I guess Ryan got upset and yelled at Brad to bring his bike back, so he did and then Ryan got on his bike and took off on it, he never realized the wheels weren't down. Bradley was so excited. So now we are training wheel free. I'm sure by next summer, he will be floaty free. Ryan was so excited, he couldn't wait until his Daddy got home to show him what he can do now. I think Doug was a little bummed, because he worked with him about a month or so ago and gave up on him. I said when he's ready, he'll do it.,, I was right as usual ha ha.

Update on Sad post

I tried to post this a week or so ago, but Ryan decided he was going to take over the computer, So, Mrs. Lancasters Dr. seemed to have made a mistake?? They did more testing and and found out that her Leukemia is at a Stage 1 rather than a 3 and is VERY treatable! So that is GREAT news!! We'll still keep her in our thoughts and prayers!!

Summer vacation

Gosh, it's hard to belive my kids are on Summer Vacation. Thursday was Ryan's last day of school. There was a Graduation Celebration for the Kickstart class. It was SO cute, they wore litte caps and all walked in the next room together, and sat down, then they got diplomas, and then cake and punch after... It was really neat. When they were coming in the room, Tina that was sitting next to me said, just think in 12-13 more years, you will be watching this again, only they'll be bigger... how sad is that? Anyway, Ryan was all really excited! After school, Bradley even got a piece of cake. I should of pulled Brad out of class so he could watch too. He was bummed he missed it. Ryan also thought since he was done with Kickstart Kindergarten on Thursday, he would start Kindergarten on Friday, then I explained he'd have all summer off, and then he said that was good, because he likes to be home with me doing stuff. I also got Ryan's report card, which looked really good, pretty much all M's except. P+s on controling the volume of his voice and taking care of personal belongings. I also got his Allegan County Public Schools Literacy Initiative Emergent survey Student chart.... test thingie... I didn't totally understand it, But was told it was really REALLY good for a kid just going into Kindergarten. From what I understand, on this chart he needs to get 100% by the end of second grade, which will show he'll be a good reader... anyway, here's the results, give my input if you understand the chart!
Concepts of Print 75.00%
Beg Sounds 100.00%
Rhyme 75.00%
Blending Onsets 100.00%
Segment Onsets 0.00 %
Phoneme Blending 87.50%
Phoneme Segment 100.00%
Letter Names 100.00%
Letter Sounds 100.00%
K Sight words 50.00%
Sentence Dictation 10.45%

So those are the results.

Brad's last day of school was yesturday. I went to his awards ceremony. He got voted "most coopertive" in his class by his classmates... Wish he was like that at home! ha ha He also got on the A/B Honor roll... again. He was on that every time this year except once, when he was on the "B" average, ( he had gotton a C in Math). So anyway, his report card consisted of 3 A's and 3 B's . I'm VERY proud of him!
I got Mrs. Guidry (Brad's teacher) Mrs. VanderPloeg (Ryan's teacher) and Mrs. Wilken ( Camp Blackhawk teacher) New Guinea impatient hanging plants for the end of the year gift. Then I got Mrs. Dolphin a lily since Ryan is all done with Speech, she can plant it and remember him for years to come! and then I got the Principals and Secretary's and also Mrs. Hutchins ( Brad's reading teacher) a cool orange daisy plant. I appreciate all that they do for me and Bradley and Ryan.
I also had a talk with Mrs. Lanphear ( upper EL. principal) She told me who Bradley was going to have next year. He's going to have Mr. Andrews, the catch was, Mr. Andrews is going to be teaching a class that consists of 1/2 4th grade and 1/2 5th grade. Mrs. Lanphear says she thinks Bradley will do great in there. They are moving everyone around again. Trying to make the class sizes smaller. Good luck!! I think the closer we get to the new school being done, the more crowded it's going to be. I also know that Ryan is going to be in Cheri Schmidts class . I requested her, and Teri one of the other Kindergarten teachers, said she was glad Ryan was going to be in Cheri's class, because he's going to be really difficult to keep challanged. Teri's daughter is also going to be in Cheri's room, so she was going to work with her on reading so Cheri would have 2 smarties in her room... Mrs. Vander Ploeg said Ryan isn't a problem child at all, but he's got a lot of energy and it's tough to keep him occupied because he learns so quickly and gets his work done so fast. But Cheri says' she's up for the challenge.
I guess I've rambled enough, and have a TON of things to do around here and the boys are at eachother ... Have a great day!

Sad news

Well, I heard sad news yesturday at school . Mrs. Lancaster a long time Fennville resident and teacher for Many years, has stage 3 Leukemia. The sad thing is, she's already told people, who she wants to get the stuff in her cabinet at school. According to Bradley's teacher, she told the kids Mrs. Lancaster is really sick and there is no cure, and she will die.... I didn't really think this was a very tacticful.... Mrs. Lancaster also has a new grandchild, she hasn't even seen yet. She's loved the fact that her other son has been subing at the school. This is all so sad, she and her family are in our thoughts and prayers...

Happy Days

My oldest ( not as in age) and dearest friend Amy has left for Korea with her husband to pick up thier new son Asher. This is so exciting! They adopted thier first son from Korea too, almost 3-1/2 yrs ago. While I am so excited and happy for her, since there is no better gift to give your child than a sibling, it stirs up lots of emotions for me. #1- I can't afford to go out there to meet Asher and congratulate Tru on being a big brother! So that's a bummer! The other is, the day Amy and Brendon brought Tru home from Korea, was the day my Mom died. How wierd is that? Mom was so excited about Truman, Every time she saw Amy's Mom she said she highly recommended grandchildren and she should get herself some. ( Mom loved my boys) , So mom was thrilled Amy was becoming a Mom. I know Mom and Dad are watching.
Last night was a loooooooong night for us. For the last few days Ryan hasn't been himself. First it was angry intestines, I'm thinking from some Ice Tea his dad thought he should have , once I cut him off of it, he's been fine, and he never felt sick. Then his allergies seem to have really kicked in. Unfortunatly there isn't too much in the way of medications for him to take to help control them, he's allergic to most Antihistimines. Benedryl is about all he can take. Wierd huh?! So I've been doing breathing treatments around the clock. I got him all hooked up once last night and he slept through most of it, but when he was almost done, I sat down on his bed and he woke up and was sort of freaked out, until he really woke up and realized what was happening. Then he was okay. Poor kiddo. He handles it all so well.
It's hard to belive Ryan only has 4 days of school left. Thursday is his last day. This is also bitter sweet for me. He's excited that he'll be going to Kindergarten in the fall. I wish he'd stay my baby forever. Next year school will also be all day everyday, that will be hard for me, especially with him being so sickly, at least with this year, he could sleep in when he wasn't feeling well, or up late coughing ( just like right now he's still sleeping) and then he'd be doing fine in time to go to school, he'd only be there for a few hours and then he could come home and rest... What will next year be like?? He's reading 1st grade books now, so that's fun. I was at Barnes and Noble yesturday and found tons of books I could get for him that are early readers, I wish I had more $$. I did get some flash cards for addition that we started working on. I don't push him, but he loves to learn, so I thought, why not. I got Bradley some multiplication flash cards, so I knew Ryan would want some too. And while Brad was multiplying, Ryan was adding. They have some sight word flash cards too, so I may go back and get those this weekend. They also had some reading and math workbooks, for the summer before Kindergarten and the summer before 4th grade , so I think I will get those too. They say kids brains really relax during the summer, and they forget a lot or regress?? So I am going to try my best to not let that happen. Third grade hasn't been to difficult in the way of homework and what they've done ( WAY too many movies watched ) So 4th grade is going to be a rude awakening for Bradley, I"ve also requested a teacher that requires a lot from the kids, but does a lot of really neat projects. So it's going to be really tough for awhile. Brad has 4-1/2 days of school left. It sure isn't summer break weather yet!! Brrrrrr The pool is open, just needs to get warm now!
My thoughts and prayers go out to Amy and her family for a smooth transition and VERY safe trip home!! I am so happy for you!!

Another year older and deeper in debt.....

Well, it's my birthday, My husband didn't even say Happy Birthday when he left for work.... Brad is still in bed, home sick.... Guess his day of fishing was too much for him yesturday. Actually, I think he's caught the nasty cold I've had, and when it starts, you really feel miseable. Poor kid.
Mothers Day wasn't too bad, I've come to the conclusion, that I am the Mom... and that's how it should be celebrated. Which also surprised me, because that's how Doug treated it for the first time. Usually we have to go to the gun club for Mothers Day breakfast ( which I can't stand doing) then we spend the day sitting around starring at my inlaws, being critisised over everything I do wrong... according to my Mother in law... Apperantly it's wrong to play with the kids or read with the kids instead of keeping my house perfectly spotless.... And I hear about how she had 4 kids, 3 under 3 yrs old and how she didn't have a car to get anywhere and how she didn't spend a dime of her "husbands" money.... she only spends "her" money.... ect. ect. What she does'nt seem to understand is... it's 2005 times have changed. There is no his or my money... we have OUR money ( or don't have ha ha) . Sometimes I think she's jealous. I'll admit, the kitchen floor looks pretty nasty today. But I had a great day with my kids. we went fishing, we walked around the yard looking at the flowering trees, watching the bees collect pollen ( which is pretty cool to see ) and then we played basketball and Ryan made his first basket. ( the hoop is as low as it goes) We also started out the day for Breakfast at Bob Evans ( that I liked, much better food ) . We also got carni food downtown Holland. So all in all ( after my ranting ) I had a great day being ... Mom. The kids kept giving me hugs and kisses and said Happy Mothers Day, and I told them the best part of the whole day is being thier Mom... I'm the lucky one.
We uncovered the pool this weekend too. Surprisingly, it was clear, there are a bunch of leaves in the bottom of it, but you can see them clearly! I will try to scoop out as many as possible today. The neighbors were shocked, Charlie looked and said, it's already clean! and then he told his wife, we've got 20 minutes of work and it's done. We shocked it so in a day or 2 I'll check the water and get it balanced. Then I can call the pool heater repair man. We need our heater fixed but it had to be up and running to get it looked at, that's why we did it so early. Sure does look nice to see it open.
Wow, my husband just called me, and wished me a Happy Birthday.. I'm impressed.
Guess I'd better run and get on with my day!

Chilly start to May

May has begun, the flowers are shivering. It's a whopping 37 this morning. Baseball practice has been cold! As I recall, it was the same way last year. It's actually supposed to be a beautiful Mothers Day. 78 and sunny... rain late. Mothers Day is a tough day. Seems like that after 3 years of losing my Mom it would get easier. The pain isn't as intense, but the loss is huge. I will still go to the phone to call my Mom when the kids do somthing exciting or anything for that matter. This year is going to be extra tough on a good friend of mine. She lost her Mom last October. She has also found out that her step daughter who is about 3 months pregnant is unable to carry her baby, if she did, she would die. She had cancer when she was pregnant with her first daughter who is now around 3, and they did blood work and said the cancer is back and will be worse with this pregnancy because it's a hormone fed cancer. That is all confusing to me, but it's very sad for them all. She went to a specialist yesturday who gave her a pill to take, to terminate the pregnancy. What an awful thing to do. They said had it been 5 years since her last pregnancy, it would of been better. I feel for the family and my thoughts and prayers go out to them.
Yesterday I went to the Dr. to have a lump of scar tissue removed from my arm. It's just gotton bigger and bigger over the last year or so, it was time to go. It was amazing how fast the surgery went. It's pretty sore. I have to call the Dr.s office to get the biopsy results on Thursday. I was so nervous before I went. The best part, my friend who's going through all these hard times right now, went with me for support. Does'nt get any better than that! We went out for breakfast afterwards too! That was fun! I also woke up with sinus issues yesturday, as the day went on and I sat out in the cold for Baseball, it got worse, my night was awful. Doug started to not feel so well and had an upset stomach, So all I have to say.... Good thing we have 2 bathrooms in this house now!! Ryan is also not feeling very well. He's got a nasty cold and is on breathing treatments again too. Poor kid he didn't have the best night either , which didn't help my night! Will it ever be nice out?
Ryan played at the park yesturday during Baseball ( I know it didn't help his cold, but Doug was working at his 3rd job) this was the first time since he broke his arm that he's been to the park, I was a nervous wreck, He said he walked up to the pole , looked at it and walked away... it's too funny to hear him tell it. But luckly he didn't break any bones last night, hopefully we'll keep it that way.

Spring training

What a busy day I've had. I started with counting over $22,000 to deposit in the PTO account, and of course a $15,000 bill goes with that. But I'm finally trying to wrap up this whole fundraiser. I had late people that missed the pick up date, so they finally turned in the money and I got thier stuff delivered to the school today, so now I have to get it sent home with kids. So that took many phone calls. Then I realized about 45 minutes before Ryan had to be at school that I was supposed to go on a field trip to the pony farm today. So I had to call work and let them know that I was going to miss a meeting today and I would also be late. So I drove myself to the pony farm so I could go right to work after we were done. Bradley was also starting his baseball practices tonight, at 5:30, last spring I didn't work on Mondays' so there was no conflict, but I now work on Mondays we are scheduled till 5, but I rarely get out before 5:30, tonight was no exception, I got out at 5:55pm. I picked Bradley up from Camp Blackhawk at 3:45 ( Before Nancy left the office) brought him back to the office, warmed up some food for him and he ate ( supper early) then he hung out with me at the office until his best friend's ( Vincent ) mom ( Becky) stopped and picked him up. I finally got to the field at 6:00. Brad seems to be doing fairly well, The coaches ( same as last year) were suprised to see how well he was throwing this year, wait until they see him hit! Next practice Wednesday night, thankfully, I only work until 1 on Wednesdays! Hopefully the weather will hold out for us! So far it looks like a chance of rain and a high of 50, better dress warm! Bradley's team will be called the Bats.
I go Monday for some minor surgery, just office surgery to have a lump of scar tissue removed from my arm. It seems to be getting bigger and is really starting to bother me, so it's time to go. I will have some stitches for 2 weeks. I'm a little worried about how sore it will be, it's where all the muscles are too. I also have a field trip on Friday the 6th with Bradley too. I think I will skip the bus ride. We are going to the Grossology exhibit at the VanAndle museum and the the Planetarium, I'm pretty excited as is Bradley.
I'm off to read to Ryan....

A little more chilly

It's noonish... and only 52 out. It was 60 when I went to work this morning. Brrrrrr
I had to leave work for awhile to go work at a bake sale for 3rd grade ( at the request of my son) and as the 3rd grade is coming, Brad comes up to me and says his tummy hurt and his color was off and his eyes looked so droopy, so I signed him out and took him home, which, messed up my going back to work and I also have a Dr. s appt this afternoon, So I'm hoping Mimi will call me back and be able to come sit with Bradley so I can go. I know Bradley will be fine. He saw a movie at school that freaked him out a little bit, and I sometimes think he could have Irritable bowel syndrome, when he gets stressed so does his tummy... Must take after his mother... Poor kid.

Another beautiful day!

Today's high is supposed to be 82, it's already 62 at 7:30am. A cold front is supposed to go through tonight and then the temps tumble and hopefully we'll get some MUCH needed rain! The temps aren't supposed to get very warm for at least the next 10 days or so. We'll have more "normal" temps. upper 50's low 60's. Although, Saturday will struggle to get to 50 I guess. The kids wore shorts to school yesturday and will again today. I'm sure at Camp Blackhawk they will get to go outside to play. They LOVE that! Yesturday thier Dad picked them up early. Doug had to go to the Dr. yesturday to get a Physical. He hasn't had one since it was required for Middle School sports. That's a little toooo long. His BP was good, and now he has to have a fasting blood test next Tuesday morning. They will check his sugar, thyroid, cholesterol , stuff like that. He's felt really run down lately, so hopefully we'll get to the bottom of it. He was also told to cut back on coffee and drink more water and get out and walk once in awhile.... HA and he is always telling me to get out and walk, while he lays on the couch. So maybe now I can get him to walk with me. I always walk in the Cemetary, so it works well to take the kids on thier bikes, they can ride around while we walk! Maybe I can get him out there tonight! ( Doubtful)
It was back to normal around here for me yesturday, Back to work with patients. It felt like it had been weeks since I'd done that, I guess because it had been almost 3 weeks for me. It did feel pretty good!
Guess I'd better run, I need to bake for 3rd grade bake sales tomorrow and make sure the house is clean before I leave ( I just like to see if it still looks that way when I get home, which it never does!) Have a great day!

A quiet weekend

I had a reallly quiet weekend. Mimi called Saturday morning at 8:30am and asked what Bradley was doing this weekend, I said nothing he had been at Student Activity night at the school the night before. So she asked if he could go with them to Aunt Debbies in Mt. Pleasant, so I asked him if he wanted to go, and Doug comes running to where I was on the phone and said, Only Brad?? And of course Mimi said, yes only Brad ( she treats Ryan totally different, but that's a whole other post) So she said she'd be here in 1-1/2 hrs to pick him up. Ryan was all bummed, he wanted to go, but I saidwe'd find fun things to do, but that didn't matter, he wanted to go. About 2 minutes later, Mimi called back and said to pack for Ryan too, Papa says' he's going with. Ryan was beaming, he was so excited, almost as excited as Doug! ha ha. I asked Ryan what I was supposed to do all day, with them being gone, He said I should do laundry because that's fun! silly kid. Doug was gone before the kids left, he had to go to the Fire Dept. to help the chief with the Explorers group, and then he had to go work his 3rd job, and then as the day went on, he ended up going to 4 fires, 3 where for mutal aid to other stations. He had said that we would leave around 5pm and go out to eat somewhere, well, 5 came and went, then 6 came and went, then 7 came and went, then around 7:30 Doug finally came home. We ended up at Logan's Roadhouse to eat at 8:30pm. Better late then never. I actually sat around the house all day, did a manicure, pedicure all those girly things I never have time for. I will admit, I did get a little bored, but it was sort of a nice change. Sunday morning, Doug had training, so he was gone before 7am. I got up at 8 and start laundry, boy was that fun! ha ha Doug came home for lunch and so we went downtown and ate at the Blue Goose ( why cook when the kids are gone) then after lunch, he went back to the Fire Station and so I went shopping. I had to take back some shorts I got for Brad last week, kids growing like a weed. So then I got him 2 more pair, and I got both boys some new sunglasses and I got Ryan a shirt. I also went to Meijers to take back cans. Then I went to Target and got a glow in the dark basketball ( we needed an extra, and I knew plain orange wouldn't be exciting enough) . Then I came back home and continued on laundry and did ironing. How exciting! Then Doug came home after I started the charcoal for the grill and then he got in the shower and ended up getting another fire call, this time for someone in town with a grenade... Or so it ended up just looking like one. Anyway, until they knew that it wasn't a real one, the FD had to block off all streets in town. Doug left his pager with me, so I could hear what was going on. So when I heard them say they were clear of the scene and in route back to the station, I knew I could put the pork chops on the grill. The boys got home around 7:30 pm . Ryan napped until they got home, so needless to say, Ryan was up till 11pm and was again up at 7:20am, Boy will he be grumpy this afternoon. Good thing Doug will be able to pick them up from Camp Blackhawk early! He has a physical this afternoon at 3pm, first one since..... Middle school sports! YIKES~ Hope it all goes well!!
Guess I'd better get on with my day!

Back to school

Spring Break has come to an end. We have had the best weather! I kept waiting for a cold rainy day to take the kids to a movie or some indoor activity, It never happened. We pretty much stayed home most of the week, besides the occasional trip to Holland for lunch and landscaping supplies ( the front of the house is done!) The kids love to play outside, (mostly in the dirt with thier John Deere toys) So they did a lot of that! I also got them a Tee for baseball, so they can practice thier hitting. Bradley really doesn't need a tee, but Ryan does, and Brad demonstates for him. Doug also finally got our basketball hoop up. He grumbled about the pole directions the whole time he was putting it together. (It's adjustable) But once it was up and done, he was pretty happy with the pole I got. It's really easy to adjust, even for me (and I'm NOT tall!!) The kids love it! I had 6 kids over here yesturday playing. My dad would be so proud that there is a basketball hoop in the yard, and baseball's laying around.. and of course, John Deere toys and dirt! Boy stuff!
Speaking of Doug, We haven't seen very much of him. He pretty much spent all day at the Fire Station yesturday. It's been so warm and dry that there have been lots of grass fires, illegal burns, and people burning strange things ( TV's, fridges.... I know , very odd ). He did make it home for supper, ( steak on the grill) Then he got another call and was off. According to our forcast, there isn't much of a break in sight. The FD has had 1/3 of thier calls since January in the last week. They had 4 yesturday. They get paid twice a year. Once in June, the other in December. Doug's in all his glory , he lives for this stuff.
I bought a new charcoal grill Saturday. We bought one last year ( on sale for $25) to see if we'd like it better than gas and found out we really do! So I got an Aussie Walkabout at Lowes. The best part, it was already assembled, which was good , because Doug was at a fire when I got home from Holland. ( I had to go to the FD to find the boys) So I was able to fire up the grill before Doug came home. ( Oh, last years grill was pretty much on it's last wobbly leg, we use it that much!) When it's nice, that's my main mode of cooking .
Bradley will be starting baseball within the next few weeks, he can hardley wait. I got him 2 new pair of baseball pants, and a new pair of cleats ( last years cleats were size 1, I had to buy a size 3, kids growing like crazy!!) He also wants me to get "athletic" pants for him for practice, not sweat pants. He's got a good swing, he's finally getting some power behind it. Ryan is excited because he will be starting Tee ball in May. We will have a ball game on Monday , Wednesday and Thursday nights and Saturdays. Spring will be busy. Ryan's Tee ball should be done by Mid June and Bradley will have baseball from the end of April until July. I also have to go sign the kids up for swimming lessons at the Aquatic Center. This will be Brad's 6th year in lessons. He really doesn't "need" them, but they work on his strokes and helps with his diving, and he just loves it. This will be Ryan's second year, he also loves it!
I guess I'd better get on with my day, it looks like another beautiful one, and Bradley got off to school and Ryan is excited that he goes back today too. I've got laundry going already, and just took Chicken out of the freezer ... to grill and need to make beds yet, then Ryan and I can go out and play until it's time to go to school. I'll try not to be such a stranger, but when it's so nice out, I rarely turn on the computer! Have a GREAT day!!

More beautiful sunshine!!!

Wow, where have I been? The couple weeks leading up to Spring break have been very hectic. I finally have pretty much wrapped up the fundraiser I was in charge of. It's amazing to me how many people either .. don't can't or just doesn't want to read and follow directions! Our pick up day came and went, The orders were to be paid for when they picked them up, I can't tell you how many people said they didn't know they were supposed to do that. Well, gosh, it told them in the original fundraiser letter that explained the whole thing, then again in the letter about the pick up night. UGH Then people didn't show up to pick up thier items, and then called the next day to pick them up. We sent them back to the company! So I gave everyone one last chance to pick up thier stuff, they have to turn in the money, and then I can schedule another pick up date for those orders. we made between $9000-$10,000 so I guess it was worth all the headaches and stress.
We are now on Spring Break, the kids were off on Friday, talk about, fighting ect. The kids actually drove me crazy, I know hard to belive that could happen! The weekend was better, it hasn't been yucky out, so they've been outside playing a lot. Guess who woke up crouping Saturday morning though... You guessed it, Ryan. We ended up going out to lunch and to Sam's club with my friend Pam and her 2 kids on Friday and then we went back to her house, so the kids could play, and then Pam had to run a couple errands and wanted us to go with, so we rode along, and we ended up going to the lab with her, she had to have some blood drawn, and while we were sitting in the waiting room (which luckly was empty besides us) I was reading a book to the kids ( which kept them quiet, Reading to Ryan works like a charm he loves to be read to, and now he likes the read the words he knows) And Ryan decided to start wheezing right them, Pam looked and us and said, What's that noise, I said, Ryan's wheezing. So we left after we got back to her house and I ran to Family Fare ( groceries) and got stuff to make burgers for supper, and then got Ryan home and hooked him up to his nebulizer. I had that feeling when he went to bed that night, that he would wake up crouping and he did. Now he's got the yucky nose with it, and we just keep doing his nebulizer treatments. It's still not stopping us from sending him outside to play. Yesturday was in the mid to upper 50's and the sunshine was plentiful! I just looked at Ryan and his little face got sunburned... He and Bradley were outside ALL day long! Today is supposed to be in the lower to mid 60's and tomorrow lower to mid 70's and sunny both days! I actually got outside and worked in the front yard yesturday. Last year we got landscape blocks and then put down some weed barrier right in front of the front window and then put down red lava pebbles, we chose not to do mulch because we had a carpenter ant problem when we moved in and the bug people said mulch would be bad especially with all the trees we have, so we went with the pebbles, anyway, we only got that one little section done, so in the Menards ad yesturday they had them on sale , so I got 10 bags ( all I could get in the van ) and so now I am about 1/2 the length of the house. So today, I need to run to Menards again and get more weed barrier, and get more rocks, so hopefully, I'll have the front done by the time Doug gets home from work. It looks so much better then just being started, but we only have so much money and time. We'd like to go around the side of the house around to the back, but we'll see, just getting to the side by fall would be good. We are also going to need a load of river rocks for around the pool, I put new weed barrier down last year, after moving all the rocks and putting them back down, so we need more rocks to fill in the gaps. Way better than the weeds before!!!
Today, I also have to deposit paychecks into the accounts of co-workers who are away on Spring Break and pay 2 bills for one of them. It's a good thing we didn't go anywhere, I can take care of everything for everyone! ha ha I don't mind, that's what friends are for! I'm also taking care of 2 fish a frog and a cat and a hot tub! There really is a lot of work with a hot tub, I checked the chemicals last night and added chlorine and ph decreaser. So today , I will check it before I go to Holland so if it's still not balanced, I can take a water sample to Zagers so it will be nicely balanced. People put thier trust in me, I won't let them down.
Well, Ryan is up and has his 3 medications to get him started for the day, and Bradley is still sleeping, so I think I will get in the shower and start breakfast. Have a great day!

Sunshine!!

What a way to start the day, Beautiful sunshine! Granted, it's still only 30 degrees, but very pretty . The In-laws are home. Mimi has a nasty cold, she sounded terrible Saturday night. But yesturday when I talked to her, she sounded a little better. She even sounded really excited about coming to babysit Ryan on Wednesday. Ryan want's her to bring Barney ( the dog) . Smokey ( our cat) would not be amused.
I am having a Candle party Saturday night. I really didn't want to have one, but when I was at a party, they had a tealight house that was a Firehouse, that I thought would look so cool in the basement, but it was $70 and I will not spend that much on it, so I thought it would be nice to earn it, so hence, the reason for the party, 7pm, Doug's in charge of making the Margaritas. Then on the 30 of April , I am having a Spa party. And I have to admit, I really like thier products. They have Beauti Control skin care products, and I use the cleanser , toner and mosturizer everyday. At my next party, I need to get wrinkle control stuff!! I've also got some stuff called Show of Hands, which is like rubbing sea salt on your hands, and when you rinse it off, your hands are so soft. I wish I could get Doug to use it. It was $26 for the container, but a little bit goes a loooooong way, and I've had it for almost a year and still have over 1/2 the jar. That party is at 11 am , so I get to make Brunch munchies, I love that. Then, yes again, I will be having a Tastefully Simple party, probably right before Memorial Day so we all have food for our weekend get togethers. So many parties, so little time... ha ha. Actually, by the time I get to the last party, it will be SUMMER!!!

Freezing rain

Will this weather never end? This morning we woke up to 29 degrees and freezing rain. It is still raining, but it's up to a whopping 32. It's supposed to clear up and have a high of 42 today. We'll see. Spring Break is in 2 weeks, so it's got to start looking up. All of our friends are going to Florida or Alabama for a week, we will , as usual be staying home. I have asked them all for one souvenier.... Bring back warm weather and sun !!!!
The Inlaws were in St. Louis this morning, it was 39 degrees and sunny. They are headed back this way, so however long it takes them to get from St. Louis Mo to here, is when they'll be home! I hope Mimi is ready to spend some "bonding" time with Ryan on Wednesday mornings again!
I am thinking about picking up an extra 1/2 day at work this fall . I may have to chance towork all day Monday rather than my 1-5 that I work now. I am hoping it will work out, because I would rather go into work as soon as the kids go to school and work all day. That would put me up to 20 hours a week, which is pretty good considering just over a year and a half ago, I was only working 5 hours a week. I would then be making enough to make the car payment and the house payment. Which is a very good thing. Seems the older kids get, the more expensive they get. Jeans wear out before they actually grow out of them. Since fall, I have gotten Bradley 9 pairs of jeans... 3 of which don't have a hole in the knee..... yet. I even buy the tough skin jeans at Sears with the double thickness in the knee... They still don't withstand a 9 year old that spends more time crawling on the ground than a baby... Or he "falls" while trying to catch a ball.. apparently, it's better to dive for the ball and crash to the ground. At least he doesn't sit in a cornor of the playground shivering or doing nothing, I have to admit, both boys are very active. Sure, they have all the video games and they both have TV's and VCR's and DVD players in thier rooms, but I almost think that has helped, because they rarely sit and stare at them. It is great when they are sick, it keeps them contained to thier rooms and they stay in bed where it's all comfy cozy for them. Then they can watch movies or whatever. But when it's really nice outside, they will wake up and ask to go outside to play and then they will play until we make them come in. Even now it's cold and rainy out, they are playing with cars, I hear lots of sound effects, I'm glad they went downstairs!
I hear a load of laundry screaming my name, and some cabinets want to be organized and thier doors all cleaned... I'm in the Spring cleaning mood... Is that because Mimi will be back to babysit here?? Probably! ha ha
Nothing real exciting going on here, and that's always a good thing!!

Robots

The kids and I went to see Robots yesturday. Ryan had been waiting for it to come to the Theater. ( Talk about well advertised) It was really cute. A lot of humor adults would understand more than kids. It kept Ryan's intrest the entire 1-1/2 hrs. It's so cute to hear the kids laughing and see them smiling. They had a great time. The theater was packed, we got the last 3 seats in the upper section . The lower section is compared to sitting in the front row in a regular theater. We went to the Cinemark at Rivertown. I love that theater because it's got stadium seating and no matter how tall the person in front of you is, your view is not obstructed ( I say this because I'm so short) Plus the seats are large and comfy, the arm rests inbetween can go up, so you can sit with your sweety and cuddle ( My sweety would be Ryan and he loves this feature!) There is also lots of leg room , enough in fact that Ryan can get out of his seat, walk over to mine and climb up on me without disturbing anyone. After the movie was out, we went into the Mall, it was also packed!!! To the point where I wouldn't let Ryan let go of my hand in fear of losing him. Brad hung on to my purse handle, so he wouldn't lose me either. So we got our cookies and left. Hard to belive there is a recession.... People had bags in thier hands too... I did not! ha ha I can't shop with 2 little boys in tow. I can with one but not two! Just think, next school year I can spend the entire day at the Mall all alone.... I've actually done this, I got bored after an hour. Have I mentioned that next year Kindergarten will be all day every day?
Speaking of that, I really had a tough time deciding what the right thing to do for Ryan would be. He's in what is called Kickstart Kindergarten. Sort of a young 5's. This was a new program this year. The Kindergarten teachers test the kids at K-round up to see where the child should go, Kick start, or regular K. Ryan was tested and Mrs. S said " You know Ryan is smart enough to be in regular K, and I said, Ya.... but he's too young!!" So they let me put him in the Kickstart. So now his teacher , Mrs. V ( who is GREAT!) said she'd really like him to go to 1st grade. She said he's not a problem child, but he's "high energy" and she's afraid if he gets bored, he may become a problem. She said I have to realize that he will be in class with kids that don't even know thier colors. Apperently Ryan is very smart. I knew he was pretty bright, but I didn't realize to what extent. So anyway, I had talked with the K teachers and they think they can keep him challenged enough to keep him out of trouble ( I have also requested a certain teacher that I know will be really good about that) . I also talked with a 1st grade teacher to get her opinion. And she told me that she's got a really bright boy in her class, also a very young 6 and because he doesn't have the maturity, she can't get the work out of him, he can do it, he just doesn't want too. So that right there made up my mind that I was doing the right thing by putting Ryan in Kindergarten next fall. I then had a talk with the Principal , she asked me what I was thinking of doing with Ryan, ( she's subbed in his room a couple times in the last few months) I told her Kindergarten and she agreed with me, do to the maturity level, she said he is extremly bright (always nice to hear) but we should let him be a little kid, a little longer. So that made me feel really good too. I kept thinking if he went to 1st grade that would make my babysitter issues easier in the winter, but those are the wrong reasons to send a child to 1st grade, so the all day everyday Kindergarten has all around made my life a little easier. I think Ryan will do well, he is usually up in the morning before Brad gets on the bus and he's still going strong in the evening. Just think he'll be with all those germs all day everyday.... BLAH He is going to love it though. He loves school.
Tomorrow The Incredibles comes out on DVD, Ryan has also been telling me exactley what day that will be, so I'm sure before he goes to school and I go to work tomorrow, we will be out buying The Incredibles.... I also have to get paint for Bradley's room.

Pancakes...

Fennville Area Fire Dept. ( FAFD) just had thier last pancake breakfast of the season, that's a sure sign spring is on the way. Mrs. Lohman ( Bradley's Kindergarten teacher sub for 1/2 of the year and fellow fireman's Mom) asked if I thought Doug would be home once in awhile now, I said, Doubtful! ha ha He practically lives at the Fire Station, That is also probably the reason Doug got Fireman of the Year in the Dept. last year too, his dedication. Some of the guys have asked if it bothers me that Doug sleeps fully clothed in his truck in the garage all the time... They seem to think he does that because he's always first one to the station when they get a call. The funny thing is, one time he got a call, he jumped out of bed, not sure how anyone can get dressed so fast.. and was out in the garage in a flash, needless to say, they had to disregard the call, and in the house he came. He seriously did not remember being out in the garage. How scary is that?? Another time, I put his shoes in the closet at the door, and so he couldn't find them ( typical of any male in this house when I put somthing away, they think it's lost) So he showed up with just his socks on, the guys got a pretty good laugh about that too. He was still, first on there. I bought Ladder 49 on DVD friday and we watched it that night. I'd have to say it was a really good movie, but pretty emotional. I had a tough time holding it together at the end. I do know that difference between being a big city fireman full time and being in a small area, but it's still scary, when you think about what these guys do. Doug will sometimes come home with stories about not being able to see anything, it was so pitch black in a burning house , or about how hot the fire was and the flames were going over thier heads.... I don't really seem to like these stories, but Doug just loves the exhileration from it, so I listen and support what he does. I have learned not to listen to the scanner while he's on a call, I don't want to hear about somthing bad happening. In parts of the movie one of the fireman would wander off somewhere alone, he said that would NEVER happen , so that made me happy... At least I could greive with someone elses wife..... It is a scary thing these guys do, but where would we be without them? My boys think it's the coolest that thier dad is a Fireman... They brag to thier friends about it. I'd have to say, I'm proud of my Fireman too. And I would never stand in his way of doing somthing he loves. He plans to take his officers classes in the fall, and he is also hopeful of someday being an EMT and eventually a Paramedic. His dream would to be full time on a fire dept. Years of putting in his dues where he is, more classes and lots of training may someday pay off... it's never too late, and I would never stand in his way, no matter how scared it would make me.
On to something more upbeat.. Did I mention the sun is shining?? it's gorgeous.. and only 22 degrees. I am thinking of taking the kids to see the movie Robots. Ryan woke up Friday morning after being sick and home from school all week, and said, It's Friday March 11, Robots is in Theaters!! He had color in his face a the sparkle in his eyes and his fever was gone. ( I told him he had to be better to go see it ) So I think it would be a fun surprise to take them to see it. Doug won't be home from the FD until after noon and then he'll just take a nap, so why hang around for all that excitement??

Bring on the daffodils

Well, I am SO ready for Spring. Will it ever arrive? Our forcast calls for snow, snow and more snow, nothing much to pile up, but snow. And cold. Our average hights for this time of year are 40 degress, and as I type, it's 18, with a high in the mid 20's. Hard to believe in about 2 months we're going to be getting ready to get the pool open.

I have again, missed another week of work. Ryan started with croup ( yes again) on Sunday, he was really bad all day long. I was able to open his airway up better by taking him out in the cold air ( okay, so there is one benefit to it being cold outside) Steam has never worked for him. So Sunday night I tried to figure out what I could do to help him breath better without spending the night on the patio. So I opened his bedroom window and closed his door. It was really cold in there, ( I piled 3 blankets on him) But he was breathing really well. By Mid Monday the crouping was gone. By 11:30 Sunday night he started running a fever. I took him to the Dr. Monday morning and they said the fever was probably just from the croup, which had subsided by the time I got there ( of course) So back home we went, grateful he didn't have pneumonia back. On the way home, he got the chills really bad, he couldn't stop shaking, and I had the heat on full blast. He got tears in his eyes, and said, I think I'm going to cry. He felt that bad. By the time we got home his fever was up to 104. As the day went on, the fever was really hard to keep under control, lots of tubbies to bring it down temporarily. Then intense body aches kicked in. To dry him off was horrible for him, it hurt just to be touched. He also completley lost his appetite. ( He'd been eating really well, since the pneumonia ) Would'nt eat a thing. He looks so pitifull. So basically, Influenza has hit our house. Both the boys had Influenza the year my Mom died ( 3 yrs ago) both started with 105 fevers, and the fever stuck around for 6 days, hovering in the 103-104 area even with medicine. Since then, I have always gotton them the flu shot at the request of Ryan's allergist. So they did both have the shot, so I"m hoping it won't be as severe, which so far, still isn't as bad as 3 years ago. I'm really hoping, it stops with Ryan. I sort of feel like Martha lately, and Ryan is my tether....

Friday would of been my Mom's 64th Birthday.

Germ central update

Well, Ryan had a thrill this week, he was lucky enough to go to work with me on Tuesday. He wasn't ready to go back to school yet, his breathing just wasn't up to par yet, and with my In-laws still being in Texas , I don't have a sitter in the afternoon, but I was tired of missing work. So I went in at 4 instead of noon as I usually do. Nancy leaves at 4, So I just worked 4-6. I'm lucky my boss is pretty understanding. I brought some DVD's with me, so he could watch movies on the office portable DVD player (used mostly for patient education) and then he had his Leapster and gameboy, he enjoyed drawing me pictures and writing names and our phone number instead, and then photo-copied them all. Needless to say, everytime a patient came up to counter or front desk, Ryan had to be the center of attention ( story of his life with me, not always a good thing) Luckly Doug got there by 5:30 to pick him up. Brad went to Camp Blackhawk so Doug picked him up there. Then I got home at 6:40 and had a Tastefully Simple party to go to at 7:00, I had to pick up our neighbor Stefanie too. So I was home long enough to change and then off to the party. I got home from the party around 10pm . Doug was laying in bed, all covered up, he also had a T-shirt on ( sign that he doesn't feel well ) He said he got the chills really bad and couldn't stop shaking for about 45 min. When that happened he climed in bed. He said Ryan got really quiet and when he went to check on him just before 9pm, Ryan had already climbed in bed and was sound asleep. Brad had pretty much laid in bed most of the evening too, he also was again not feeling very well. So anyway, I took Dougs temp when I got home and he was just over 102.. So I got him advil every 4 hours all night... I was up with him as much as I am with the kids. Lucky for me, I had to work on Wednesday, and Doug stayed home from work and Brad and Ryan were both home from school. I was REALLY happy I had to work. Today Doug was feeling better and he's off to work, then Brad was all ready for the bus, and it flew past the house 3 minutes early so I had to take him and Ryan will also be going back to school today. Although, he won't be going outside to play yet, too cold for his lungs... I'm really hoping things will get better!!

Well, I started this post last week, so I guess I will just add on at this point.(Its' Monday Feb 26) The snow is again back, We are under a winter storm warning, it's supposed to get pretty nasty tonight and tomorrow. I am really hoping there isnt' a snow day tomorrow, that really messes up my working!! Ryan will still be staying in for recess at least for the next few days, we don't want to get the wheezing going again. He's still on his steriods and neb treatments, and it's working, so we are going to keep it that way! Surprisingly, he is okay with that ( he wouldn't have a choice anyway). I can't belive how much snow is falling right now! I can't even see the highway from my window, and it's coming straight down. It sort of looks like the slippery fine snow at this point.
My In-laws may be home a week from Thursday. My Father-In-Law has a Dr.s appt on March 10th, so they plan on being home for that, we'll see if he actually keeps the appt. It is with the Dr. that's been working with him and meds for his heart issues. I guess he's got some blockages, but they are going to manage it with medications.
A week from tomorrow Ladder 49 comes out on DVD , I think Doug is wanting to plan a party to watch it with fellow firefighters. My sister doesn't think I need to watch it. ( Must mean firemen die) She also said I would need a box of tissues handy if I do watch it. I do worry about Doug when he's at a fire, but I also know he doesn't go into high rise buildings like they do in the big cities. But I also know it can get pretty scary in there. The last fire he was at, he was in the upstairs, and there was so much smoke all he could do to see was follow the hose on the floor to get out, he also said it was really hot. I sometimes don't like to hear that stuff, but his adrenaline is really flowing when he gets home from a fire. He loves being a fireman. Fennvilles FD gets a little upset when they go for mutual assistance with other dept. and those depts don't go into a burning building, they just stand outside spraying the hose. There is less of a chance to save the building if you don't go get the fire at the source.... Fennville prefers to save whatever is burning whenever possible. They will also start hauling out belongings to save them also. They are just good guys doing an amazing thing! Thank you to all who risk your lives for others!

Bring on the Lysol....

Well, Doug made it back safetly from Texas. Luckly. The pilot came made the landing approach 3 times before he actually was able to land the plane. Doug's sister Debbie was white as a ghost once they were on the ground . They were both pretty stressed. The weather was terrible, it was not horribly windy, but we'd had snow , sleet and rain all day. My ride up to the airport was about as nerve wracking as thier landing. It took me 1-1/2 hrs to get there. I drove 35 all the way. You couldn't even see the lines on the road they were so snow and ice covered. The plows were out, but they seemed to be on the opposite side (good for the ride home) I had many cars go flying past me, like I was an idiot for going so slow and steady. One of those people, I just couldn't resist to honk and wave as I drove past them in the ditch. I passed about 6 vehicals that had fairly recently gone into the ditch... Don't you just love Michigan weather? I did get a babysitter since Doug's plane wasn't due in until 9:45pm. I had Nancy's ( whom I work with ) son Lucas babysit. Yes a 16 yr old boy came over to babysit my boys. They had so much fun. He got them to bed and they actually went to sleep for him ( they give me a harder time) When we got home , he asked how old the boys were, he had been talking to his girlfriend and she was wondering how old they were, he thought maybe 8 and 4, I said 3-1/2-4 months ago they were those ages! So maybe babysitting my kids are a "chick magent". Lucas is really good with kids. And Bradley thinks he's just the coolest, Since hes' a good football player and basketball player... So it was all good. Lucas told his mom he had fun.
I had to take Ryan back to the Dr. last night. The inflamation in his airways is just not getting better. His lungs are sounding better though. So he's now on another nebulizer medicine 2x per day, besides his albuterol nebs every 4 hours around the clock and then he's on his Orapred steriod med another 10 days ( yesturday would of been his last dose) and then he's still on his antibiotic for another 5 days. Needless to say, he's out of school yet, and he'll be going to work with me tonight. He's costing me more money than I'm making. I really need a Grandma around to babysit when he's like this. I actually got out of the house all alone last night. Doug met me at the Dr.s office and took the kids home (After stopping at Little Ceasars to get pizza for supper) and then I went grocery shopping. The cupboards and the fridge were empty!! They are filled up and happy again! Well, I'm off to iron the office laundry and watch it snow.

First night alone...

Well, we got Doug off on his airplane. He called about an hour ago, he'd made it to Houston. His flight from Houston left a few minutes early, so he should be in San Antonio in about 1/2 an hour. Then he's got a 3 hour ride in a rental car to get to Brownsville. Both of the kids talked to him when he called. Brad had just gone to bed and started to cry... He outlasted me, I was emotional when he went to the gate an hour before his flight was actually due to leave. I think I would of done better if he wasn't leaving me with a sick kid. Speaking of the sick kid. Ryan began running a fever yesturday afternoon ( good thing I didn't send him to school) His breathing treatments really were not helping a whole lot either. So this morning I called and made an appt. to see the Dr. We went in at 11:45... He had 2 breathing treatments back to back while there, and then the Dr. listened to his lungs more.. He's got pnemonia (sp??) If his blood oxygen level were 1 point lower, we would of been in the hospital. So we keep taking the steriod and now he's on an antibiotic and breathing treatments every 4 hours around the clock. If he's not doing better by tomorrow and is still wheezing after his treatments, then he's off to the hospital for more aggresive treatments, they can keep a closer eye on him and do breathing treatments more often. I am really hoping this doesn't happen and he gets better, because I'm not positive what I would do with Bradley, he can't hang out at the hospital all night with me and Ryan... So we're just going to hope and pray that Ryan takes a turn for the better!! Doug really felt horrible leaving us with Ryan being this sick. The wierd thing, Ryan doesn't really act really sick. When he's got motrin, his fever is gone, but his eyes look so droopy. Doug actually said at one point that he was just not going to go to Texas... His sister would of been really upset, I couldn't let him do that.
The kids don't have school tomorrow , so that's good. It's thier mid-winter break, they are off until Tuesday, which is good news for Ryan, although, he missed his 100's day party today.

Germ Central

Well, I write to you from germ central, aka: home. When last I posted, Ryan had been home from school sick all week, I was going to send him back to school on Friday, well, he woke up with Croup that day, and continued with it until Monday, when he finally went back to school, and I went back to work. Then Tuesday I came home from work, and Bradley has a sore throat and fever , needless to say, he's going to miss his first 2 days of school since 1st grade, NOT a happy guy. He made it back to school on Friday and then to Basketball on Saturday. I finished my 10 days of antibiotics on Saturday. Then Saturday, Doug started to not feel very well, sinus pressure .... Sunday he slept on and off most of the day. Then Monday morning at 2 am, I woke up and my throat was starting to hurt... again. I made it to school to do our PTO's fundraiser kick-off and then briefly went to Bradley's valentines party and then Ryan's party, then off to work I went ( They both had another party at Camp Blackhawk), I was really starting to feel nasty, my throat hurt and the pressure in my head was unbearable. I was going to go to Prime care after work, but I didn't want to sit up there for hours with tons of other germs, so I decided to call my Dr. So yesturday I called the dr and talked to a RUDE nurse, she told me I probably had a virus and I had to explain that I had been to Prime care and took meds for 10 days and it came back, she still insisted it was a virus and would have to talk to the Dr. then she called back and said I needed to come in for a strep culture. So I dropped Ryan off at school and up I went. They made me sit and wait for over an hour, then the grumpy nurse jammed a strep culture stick in my throat and I had a very difficult time with that, then she yelled at me for pulling away while gagging, and then hands me another stick and said, do it yourself. Can you imagine? Needless to say, I couldn't do it to myself either, then she gets grumpier and crams another one down my throat for so long.. you can only imagine... breakfast came up ( luckly I'd only had water) Then she got really mad and said, "What's your number, I'll have to call you later when I talk to a Dr., there aren't any here right now" So I went home, completly upset over the whole ordeal. I felt awful. When I got home, I climbed in bed and the phone rang, it was the nurse. They were calling in Augmentin 875 mg 2x per day. Finally, I got my antibiotic. She was much friendlier then, she was just convinced the Dr. wasn't going to prerscribe anything. ( I think I'll stick to Prime care for my next sore throat, they were good at the strep culture, very fast!!) So I got out of bed and went to get the meds. I ate toast so I wouldn't get an upset tummy from the horse pills. I got 2 in last night and already took one today, it's amazing, the pressure in my head is gone, my throat still hurts, but not as bad as it did. Now Ryan is home from school again today. He's having a pretty major Asthma flare up, he has to blow in his peak flow meter daily, and he should blow a 125 and starting last night, he was only blowing a 50. So he's on 2 different nebulizer meds and predisone ( he has a standing prescription for that for when he goes into the "red" zone which luckly doesn't happen very often. ) So that's why this place is now called germ central. My sister is avoiding us like the plague ( can't say I blame her)
Doug is leaving tomorrow evening for Texas. His parents are wintering down there. Thier 50th wedding anniversary is sometime around this weekend, so they were going to surprise them, but then decided, they'd better let them know they are coming otherwise, they could of been 1/2 way to Floriday by the time anyone got there. His sister Sue came up with the idea to surprise them, then his brother Ed waited awhile before deciding whether or not he was going to go, so when he decided he wasn't the price of the flight doubled, so then Sue decided she couldn't afford to go, but Deb the oldest ( who is also paying for Doug's flight) said she and Doug were still going to go. So they leave at 5:45pm tomorrow and then he returns on Sunday night at 9:45pm. It's going to be a loooooong weekend. See why I needed to get better so soon. I think I will take the kids to see a movie at some point during the weekend. We'll find fun things to do, maybe we'll even go to the Splash Zone as long as everyone stays on the not quite so sick side.... My babysitter for Sunday night has pnemonia right now, hopefully he'll be better! His mom warned him to slow down when he got a sore throat. Guess I'd better go find a suitcase for Doug...