Teaching/Knee/Grandma

This week I was a substitute teacher at a preschool in town and loved it. I had so much fun. It was an all day preschool and the kids were great. They are so cute. I have a new found appreciation for all the stuff the preschool teachers have to go through.

My knee is still hurting pretty bad. I am sitting with an ice pack on it right now. I guess I may have to go in if it doesn't start to feel better. I just can't physically see anything wrong with it.

Grandma had successful surgery last week. Then on Monday she was transferred to transitional care. The great thing is, she is at a facility here in town. I can walk there (when my knee is up to it). She should be there for three weeks. I am so excited to visit with her. The girls and I went yesterday but she was sleeping. I left her some pumpkin bread and her wash. The girls also drew her some nice pictures. Today we went and visited with her for a while. She is such a beautiful person inside and out.

New House

Congratulations Tania and BJ! They are now the proud owners of a house. We are very happy for them. Next weekend is moving week.....we will be there to help. I will take pictures of the house and post them if it is okay.

Horse Ride

Okay so on Friday I was lucky to go horseback riding. I had a blast until I fell off of the horse. We were on a nice trail and there was a tree branch that fell over. The first time we went under the tree branch, I was able to bend down and get under the tree but not this time. I didn't get the horse to the lower part of the trail and so by the time I realized what was going on, I ended up trying to stop myself from getting hurt and almost recovered enough to keep me on the horse but I couldn't do it. I was very thankful that I had on a helmet. I wrenched my left knee pretty bad. I was doing good on Friday afternoon but by Friday evening it was sore. It has continued to bug me.

Sept 18, 2008

Yippee! We have had two successful day's of preschool. The girls fell right back into their routine and love going. I am so glad that they are in school.

Ashley visited our second favorite doctor (her pediatrician is the first), her ENT surgeon. It doesn't appear at this point that they will need to put her tube in however we are going to closely monitor the ear. Her left ear is such a tricky thing that it could get plugged up at any time. I asked when we were in the doctor's office if we could be on the frequent flyer program, they laughed. I am so thankful though that we have this wonderful doctor to help us with all of this.

I went to the doctor today for the hives and allergy stuff that has been bothering me and in today's case it was a joke!!!! He was a horrible doctor, didn't give any clue as to why I was there and was rude to his staff. I have no more information or wasn't given any other ideas as to what is happening except to take a antihistamine until the first good frost! WOW! That diagnosis will probably cost the insurance company a good $400.00! I had to see a specialist and for what????

I did start a new job today that I am so excited about. I was asked to be on the sub list at the preschool at our church. Today was my first day of being in the classroom. I will be there on Monday and Tuesday all day. I am very excited to be doing this. I love little kids.

I have to brag about the wonderful man that I married at this point. When I was asked to sub, I said no because the girls were home. My wonderful husband said if this is what I really wanted to do, then he would figure it out in his schedule so I could do it. He took today off and next Tuesday. He can't take off Monday but his boss is letting him come home from an all day meeting to pick up the girls from their preschool and take them to the neighbors. He made me dinner, my favorite spaghetti pie, and he did arts and crafts with the girls today. Abbey accidentally broke a flashlight that belonged to my dad, he somehow figured it out and fixed it as well for me. It is the little things like that for which I am forever grateful and what shows me how much he loves and cares about me. I think I have a "one in a million" guy and today has been a great example of that.

Please keep my grandma in your prayers. She is suppose to be having surgery tomorrow afternoon for some pain in her back. She is 95 years old and is in fairly good health. She has been having some back pain issues and for her to complain then it is bad.

Pictures

First Day of Preschool

The day is finally here....the first day of Preschool! Mommy and Daddy were so excited (more so mommy) as were the girls. They love their school and couldn't wait to get back to all of their friends and their teachers. They do have the best teachers ever!
They both wore dresses today and looked great. They never even looked back after mommy and daddy dropped them off. They had a blast and were so excited to see me when I picked them up.

Sept 12, 2008

Today was another day of running around. It was our last Friday of having all day to do things as the girls start school next week. I am excited as they will be there M/W/F but also sad. I like having them home with me all of the time however I will admit that I am SO looking forward to having some time by myself.
Shannon still continues to put in many long hours at work. Today was a rare treat as he was home before 5:00. Yesterday he took a day off however had to work on side stuff and then he got home and we went to Chuck-E-Cheeses. The girls had so much fun. Then Shannon had to go back to work.
I have noticed an increase in the girls not always seeing eye-to-eye as of late. They are becoming more and more individual. Ashley is starting to really put her feelings to words and Abbey is starting to act more and more like a mom! I am not sure if that part is good.

September 11, 2008

Everyone has a day that they will always remember. For most of us, I remember this day very vividly. Shannon and I were on our way to work. He was driving me to The Hartford and we were stopped from going in because my work was closed. A tanker truck had an accident in front of the building so they closed the building down because of the hazardous materials it was carrying. That happened early in the morning. I called Karla to see if she had heard anything about it and to let her know I was getting a day off. She hadn't heard anything about that but said a plane just flew into the World Trade Center in New York.
Shannon brought me home with every intention of going back to work. We turned on the TV to see what was going on since we had turned the radio now on and were listening to developing story. We got into the house and just started watching when the second plane hit the World Trade Center. We never left the house. We sat and watched it over and over again. We flipped through all of the channels catching every ones different video, etc. We cried. We watched as the people ran down the streets covered in ash, we watched as the buildings collapsed. We watched in horror as it became obvious that the planes were being crashed into the Pentagon and then Flight 93. Going to bed, not knowing what was going to happen when and if I ever closed my eyes.
Gone was our sense of security. That is a false sense because we really don't know who is trying to hurt us. We know that evil tried to come out but that God won. We know that those innocent people who were killed, taken away from their families, friend and loved ones died as hero's. Yes it could have been worse. Anyone who grieves knows that the pain doesn't ever go away, the reality is your reality changes. I didn't know anybody who died on September 11 however I know that if forever changed my reality.
Some day the girls will learn about this historic day. I will share with them what remembered, the magazine and newspaper articles, the tears, the fear and most importantly how we as a nation, came together for a brief moment. I will also talk about how my faith in God, yet again, got me through a tragic event.
Thank you to all the service people around the world who are protecting us and are fighting for our freedoms. Thank you to the families who continue to share this day in history with us. Our hearts and prayers still go out to you. God Bless the USA!

Happy Sept!

While most kids started school today, the girls don't start until September 15! I am so excited that they are going to be going back. I think that we all need it!

My nephew Sam got his first job yesterday. He had a job interview at McDonald's and he got the job. He is only 15 1/2 so that is pretty darn good. I am so proud of him. He is growing up into a wonderful, fine young man. He has a great head on his shoulders. I have to admit I cried when I was told about the job. He is growing up and I thought of my parents and how proud they would have been.

We took the girls to the State Fair last friday and they did a great job walking around the fair. We made the decision to leave the stroller at home and up until the point where we were headed to the gates to leave, they never complained. At that point, we had been there for over 6 hours and their little legs were giving out. They loved the "Hands On Farm" experience, the butterflies and all of the animals. We never made it into any of the buildings outside of the food and animal booths.

I have promised the girls that they could sleep in their tent at some point this summer. I put their butterfly playhouse tent in their room on Saturday night and they both slept in it all night. Then on Sunday, I put together their actual tent (it is a tent I bought for $5 at a garage sale and it sleeps about 4 people) and put it in their room. I, along with Auntie Tania, had to arrange their bedroom to make it fit but we did it. Then I put their mattresses in the tent so it would be more comfortable. They loved it.

Auntie Tania came over on Sunday and we went to Lake Elmo Beach. It was so windy that it felt cold. We didn't hang out there too long. Then we went dowtown and did some shopping. We ate supper at BW3 and then came home. The girls had a great time playing and hanging out with Auntie Tania. We all did!

On Saturday we attended the 50th Wedding Anniversary for Shannon's Auntie Ann and Uncle Mike. It was fun to get together with everyone. I still only remember a handful of peoples' names but I recognize faces which is good.

Shannon basically worked the entire weekend at Bethel Highlands. He was working on getting it ready for today and had many many issues that caused him to be there the entire time.

I made reservations over the weekend for the girls (and mommy and daddy) to have breakfast with Cinderella and other princesses at Cinderella's Castle when we go to Florida. We had debated this but they love the princesses so much that we felt that this was going to be a one time experience. The girls are so excited for Florida.

Katie is playing volleyball this year. I have a busy fall schedule with both Sam and Katie playing sports. I am proud of her for going out for volleyball. She is so tall that I am sure she will do a good job.