what’s growing in my garden?

I wouldn’t say I have much of a green thumb. Especially not compared to my mom! But I do have a few pots and hanging baskets in addition to the perennials that the previous owner planted.

My mom had the most gorgeous dragon wing begonias last year. They were huge and still beautiful in October! People would stop by and compliment her on them. So this year I tried my hand.

And when I pulled it down to water it, this is the surprise I found growing inside…

I’m very curious about the 5th egg. Did another bird lay an egg in the existing nest?

We are anxiously awaiting their hatching day!

why my house hasn’t been cleaned in over a week!

This was the project I was working on for Jeremy’s students. 23 towels with their names sewn on.

Sometimes Jeremy shows his kids my blog. And remember the towels I made for our kids on Easter? Well his kids were so impressed with them and kept saying they wished they had a towel like that. So we went to Dollar General and Walmart and bought out their blue and yellow towels. And I spent about 4 days straight (if you saw the condition of my messy house you would know I was telling the truth!) sewing.

When I showed up at Jeremy’s school and he passed the towels out to the kids, they were sooo excited. One little girl even came over and gave me a hug. Made it all worth it!

And now one of his co-workers has put in an order for a towel for her daughter. Perhaps a little business has started?

my first days of summer break…

I have been busy, busy, busy the past few days, working on a little project for Jeremy’s students. Their last day of school is tomorrow. But later today, after I pick up Bri from driver’s ed, I’m going to take the kids over to his school, and deliver this special project. I’ll share more about it later.

In addition to the previously mentioned project, I decided to take advantage of our membership to the Y and went to a spin class. Let’s just say it’s not the best idea to go to a class like that after 6 months of not even climbing a flight of stairs. Wow…that class kicked my booty!!!

lost

Guess what I’ll be doing tonight…

I’ll be planted in front of my TV, watching the much anticipated final episode of Lost. Sorry kids…you’re on your own tonight!!

birthday

Today is Allison’s 14th birthday!!

14 years ago, she entered this world at 3:43 in the morning. On her due date. And to this day, she is probably the most prompt person in our household!!

So, Allison Mae, this post is for you.

Happy birthday to you,

happy birthday to you,

happy birthday dearest Allison…

happy birthday to YOU!!

girl’s day out

I work with some of the best ladies around!! And how do a bunch of teachers celebrate the school year’s end? With a day of food, chocolate and a trip to the spa, of course!

We started our day at Il Vicino for some wood oven pizza. Yum yum!!

Then we had gelato and/or delicious chocolates at Wichita’s own Cocoa Dolce. If you haven’t been, you must!!

And then we ended our fabulous day with pedis to get us all prepped for summer. The way the weather has been lately, our toes will be lucky to see the daylight anytime soon! But just in case, they’re ready!

Thanks, girls for being my support system this year! You’re the BEST!!!!

the greatly anticipated last day!

Today is the LAST DAY of school! I don’t know who’s cheering louder…me or the kids! We (meaning I) work so hard all year to make it to that glorious thing called summer vacation. When we I can rejuvenate. Relax. Enjoy summer. And then look forward to one of the best parts of being a teacher…starting fresh with a new year!

But back to TODAY. I always like to do something for my kids’ teachers. I had seen a cute idea on Jen’s blog. Painted galvanized buckets, planted with flowers. But do you think I could find galvanized buckets? Heck no. As it turns out though, Hobby Lobby had cute already painted buckets.

Time savers are always a bonus!

ground breaking

It’s exciting times around our school. Last week we had a ground breaking ceremony. But due to the rain, the ground was brought inside. Ha!

We will bury a time capsule near the new building and it will be opened in 10 years.

Currently, the construction equipment is leveling the ground where the new school will be located, just on the other side of what used to be our playground. The plan is to move into the new building in the fall of 2011. Like I said, exciting times around here!!

numana

Jeremy’s brother Chris is visiting from Alaska and we spent some quality time with him and Chuck and Vicki packaging food for Numana. Don’t we look fabulous in our food packaging wardrobe?

My friend Tish went to Haiti last month and spent 2 weeks on a medical mission trip. She has shared a little about her experience on her blog. It is unbelievable to me to see pictures of Haiti so many months after the devastating earthquake and to hear stories of the people who have to endure in such horrible conditions.

I was glad that we were able to help in a very small way.

Actually, I just really like the way I look in a hairnet! ;)

the reason i don’t blog as much…

Because this is what I find when I do take a few minutes to write a blog post!

It’s like her radar went off the second I sat down at the computer. She knew she had plenty of time to empty out her sister’s make-up drawer. But she did shut the bedroom door, for good measure. And when I finally realized that she was a little too quiet and tracked her down, she started scrambling to hide her discovered treasure.

I think she’s a little too proud of her make-over. At least she could’ve wiped off the crumbs and dog hair from her face!

ode to mom

If you have an extra 3 minutes, and you're a mom, check out this video. I think all moms will be able to relate!!

Hope your Mother's Day was as great as mine!

the newest spring arrivals

 Wonder what she’s peeking at? And why is she telling us to shush?

Well, it’s because there is a new batch of baby robins that just hatched under Papa and Gaga’s deck. And when you peek through the boards, you can see their bare naked bodies and tiny beaks.

Every year a robin builds a nest in that same spot. Last year, the nest and eggs didn’t survive a spring storm. You can see the picture of those poor eggs in my header.

is that a mullet?

That’s what Allison asked when she saw this picture of me. From my glory days as a middle school cheerleader. I assured her that it was NOT a mullet. I just wore barrettes. And apparently so did everyone else!

so what's been going on around here?

I have been a very absentee blogger lately. What can I say? I've just been busy with LIFE! That's a good thing, right?

This time of year is always so hectic. I feel like we have something going on every. single. night. With no reprieve. But that will soon come to an end, as I only have 13 more days of school. And I can hardly contain my joy!

So here is a quick synopsis of some of our goings-on lately:

Bri ~ weekly practices for the summer musical mission trip, prom, driver's ed (stay off the roads if possible!)

Alli ~ dance team tryouts (she made it!!), dance meetings, vocal music contest

Nate ~ he's my easy one...nothing exciting which is always a good thing!

Delaney ~ spending endless evenings outside, keeping me on my toes, learning new words everyday

Jeremy ~ golf, soccer league (yes, he's a little old for that and he pays for it every week. yet he keeps going back for more!), end of the school year activities

Me ~ sewing projects, end of the school year activities and projects

I think that pretty much sums it up. It actually seems like we've had more going on so I'm not sure why I haven't been able to sit at the computer!! I'll try to do better. And if I don't, I'll be back in about 3 weeks.
When summer vacation is officially HERE!

nate

 

People are always asking me how Nate is doing. And I usually give them the same answer…”He’s doing good.” And for the most part, Nate is doing good. In fact, in a lot of areas, he’s great!

Nate managed to stay out of the hospital for the third winter in a row. That’s cause for a major celebration in my book!!

He has had a great year in kindergarten. Nate can correctly identify colors, the letters in his first name and pictures of himself and family members. His nurse, para and special ed. teacher are learning how to use a new communication system with Nate, and so far he has been successful with it.

These are all great things. Things to be so thankful for!

But it seems like things can never just be great. Recently, Nate was doing his best to stress this momma out…with seizures and blood sugar problems. All part of the never-ending roller coaster of a medically fragile child.

Nate started having more seizures, after being seizure free for several months. He had a couple of seizures at school. He had several at home. But they seem to be under control once again and he hasn’t had a seizure in over a month.

Nate has a condition called Nesidioblastosis, which causes an overproduction of insulin. This results in severe hypoglycemia. His lows have been below 20 at times. For the most part, it was controlled with medication and a change in his diet. But more recently, Nate started having extreme highs as well. At his last endocrinology appointment, the doctor shared a concern that Nate may be becoming diabetic. Like I said before, it’s a never-ending roller coaster ride!

Currently, at this very moment, Nate is doing great! Wonderfully! Fantastic! I know that can change at any moment. But for now I will savor these healthy moments!

As I close, I’ll share few pictures of Nate.

 

Notice Nate’s new front teeth…it’s nice to see some pearly whites when he smiles!!