Tidbits

I've got a lot swimming around in my brain and when this happens it's best to write some tidbits ...

....

I am excited. We are getting a new (used) bed. Weird. I know. But, this couple works with Dan and they had the best custom made for them, used it for a year and decided it's not working for them.

Compare that story to ours. We have been using a $500 bed for 13 years. We bought it when we first got married. It's getting old. Literally. At this point anything will be better than what we have.

And new beds cost a lot more than what we are paying them.

We went and checked it out last night and a friend is helping us get it tonight. That friend has a truck and will help Dan load it. Such nice friends.

I'm a little (a lot) excited about sleeping on something different. I may not wake up tomorrow.

...

I am a princess. Dan's cousin, who we saw when we went to the wedding, has a 4 year old daughter. She is so stinking cute with her dark eyelashes, hazel eyes, and freckles across her nose that make her picture perfect.

She came up to me at the camp site that we went to after the wedding and told me she had seen me earlier in the day when I was a princess up on the stage :) Oh my. So sweet. I had NO idea what she was talking about, but does it really matter anyway? I mean, if she thinks I'm a princess, let's just let her go with that.

I asked her what I was wearing and she said "black" so she probably thought I was one of the bridesmaids, but that doesn't change the fact that she is now my favorite 4 year old little girl :)

And I may or may not have had the family refer to me as "Princess" for the rest of the weekend. "Your highness" was allowed as well.

...

Who do animals have to be so stressful? I have not been able to consistently get the pill into Simon like I should be.

That being said he does seem a little better, but he has now figured out what I am trying to do so he avoids the bathroom. Then he spits the pill out.

This just makes the fact that I am leaving him for a week that much more stressful, not to mention the poor girl who is going to be looking in on them.

...

Dan is going to the doctor today because his shoulder is really hurting him. It has been for weeks. I know it must be if he actually called the doctor. Plus, Dan isn't really one to complain, but his shoulder gets him.

I am sure it is cancer, but I am trying to not think that way. I tend to think everything is cancer. Yes. I am fatalistic like that.

...

One of the best things in my life right now is the fact that my children still hold my hand when we are out. I absolutely love walking hand in hand with my little dumplings. Sometimes Madelyn will take my hand and then hold Elijah's hand with her other hand. Or, they will each have one of my hands.

Part of it is that Elijah just does not pay attention in parking lots. He tends to be in his own little world anyway, and parking lots do not phase him. So, he HAS to hold my hand. But, most times they just want to and it makes my heart melt because I know they are only going to be this small for a little longer.

I caught our shadow the other day too when we were all holding hands and I wanted to take a picture. I consider myself blessed that Madelyn is still so sweet and loving. She is showing signs here and there of the upcoming tween phase, what with the huffing and/or eye rolling, but mostly she is still super sweet. And, I remind her how miserable life will be if she chooses to have an attitude ;)

...

Our dishwasher is done. That means I am washing dishes starting today. Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. I just had to get that out. I am sure we will buy a new dishwasher soon, but with vacation coming up, etc. I just don't know when. We have one picked out that is on clearance, but we'll see. We found out that if you get one with a stainless steel interior it helps fight again the mineral build up on your dishes and interior of the dishwasher so that's what we will be going for. Our water here is terrible because of all the minerals.

...

And that's all for now. I can't put off this sink full of dishes much longer. Unfortunately.

summer so far ... a recap

We are about two weeks into summer and this is how it has gone ... so far ...

We started things out with a fever. Poor Madelyn. She had strep, got treated, and then Elijah promptly started with a sore throat. Things go so much smoother when they are able to synchronize symptoms so we don't have to go to the doc twice in one week.

Oh. The doctor. Grrrr ... Sometime doctors are your best friend. Other times they are thorns in your side. Well, this particular doc was. I know for sure now that I need to avoid her completely.

Between those doc appts I had vet appts for my dog, and later, my cat. Because, you see, I took my dog in for shots to find out that my cat's blood work showed an illness that was treatable. Unfortunately I hadn't heard back from the vet after my first call so I figured there was nothing that could be done. Two months later when I am thinking I have to have my cat put down because he is only getting sicker I take my dog in for shots and find out he is indeed treatable.

Grrrr ... again with the docs who become thorns in your side. At least I found this out before I switched vets which is what I was trying to do that day, but when they couldn't fit Daisy in for shots before our weekend away I had to go back to the original vet. That's when I found this out.

Now Simon is being treated. Daisy is up on her shots. Molly is at the new vet now, and I have to report back to the vet who picked up the slack where the other vet completely dropped the ball. She did call and apologize in what turned out to be a 5 minute long message on my v-mail. It was all an unfortunate situation.

Okay. Enough about that. Not the best start to summer, but what can you do.

So, speaking of our weekend away, we went to Dan's cousin's wedding. They moved it up from October because her dad (Dan's uncle) was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. So so sad. He is the youngest of the siblings and it is so hard for everyone to wrap their brains around. He is such a likable guy. So sweet and fun-loving towards his 3 daughters, all his grand-kids, and every other pretty lady around ;) I guess you could say he is the typical "baby" of the family. It is very sad indeed.

The wedding was a nice celebration though. Jen is a beautiful girl and the family she married into seems very nice.

The evening after the wedding we went to the camp site where Uncle Don and Aunt Sally are settled into for a bonfire. The kids had a blast playing with other cousins getting as muddy and wet as can be. You gotta love the country for good times like that. They couldn't have been happier.

Sunday was Father's Day and I don't know that we have ever celebrated Father's Day with Vern so that was nice. After church we ate out and then visited with Uncle David. It was fun to hear him and Vern laugh at stories about growing up on the farm with Grand-dad, the cows and electric fences, such a different life that I will never know.

From there we went to ice cream with Robbie, Donna and the kids. Then to Bilger's rocks. It was a busy busy weekend, but good memories.

Monday we saw the Warrens in State College. Such good friends whom we love so much.

Then we were super exhausted. Even Madelyn said she was happy to be in her own bed again. She is growing up so much. I love every second of it. She still has such a cute little face that I kiss on whenever I can. She still loves to be loved on like that. Thankfully.

Since then we have kept busy, but not too much. We are still recovering from the busyness that was the end of the school year. The kids haven't even been asking to see friends. I'm sure next week they will want to do more, but for now we are enjoying our down time. You gotta love free movies for kids in the summer too. We did that this morning.

Tomorrow we have a pool party. That should be fun.

All in all, good times. And, I am quite proud of myself for resisting a kitten from Robbie and Donna again. Dealing with elderly animals is a good deterrent for getting more though. Yeesh. Getting pills down a cat's throat is not the easiest thing ever. Poor little guy.

End of the School Year

Here we are ... finally.

While I can't believe my kids are going to be in 1st and 4th grade next year, I also thought this school year was never going to end.

Elijah had a fun Kindergarten graduation ceremony. Once the ceremony got started he promptly started tucking in his sweater vest. I picked up his 3 piece outfit at Walmart one day. I was there for something else and saw the Easter clothes for boys on sale so I grabbed it. I liked the dress shirt and sweater vest. The pants were just basic navy pants, but they only had an elastic waistband, typical Walmart. No big deal though because the shirt and vest fit well and the vest would cover up the waistband.

That is until he started tucking it all in on stage! Plus, I had to roll the waist so the pants would stay up on his skinny little body.

I couldn't help but laugh. It was all just so Elijah. If they weren't singing or reciting something he was fidgeting, tucking in his vest, wiggling around, acting on his super hero tendencies, etc. Classic stuff for a Kindergarten graduation ceremony.

I know no one else really noticed because everyone zeroes in on their own child, and really I thought it was so funny. It was a nice night.

Fast forward to today when I knew it was going to be an emotional day for 3rd graders. They recently discovered their beloved teacher was not coming back next year.

I knew I would be choked up going in to get Madelyn, and to give their teacher her gift, but I thought I would be fine.

Well, I walk up to the 3rd grade room and hear sobs. A couple of the girls were just crying and crying and hugging and crying. It was so sad. Then one boy came up to hug the teacher and he was crying. Next the teacher is crying. I am crying. It was all just too much.

We did it though. We got through another year and I am very much looking forward to the respite from the school year routine. Poor Dan still has to show up Monday morning. There is a lot to do to prepare for the next school year.

But, we have some fun things planned. First, haircuts. Madelyn and I are getting our hair cut tomorrow morning. She is getting hers cut off and is really excited about it. It is really long, but she is getting it cut chin length. I want her to have it angled a bit and stacked in the back. We'll see. Sometimes hairdressers are a bit hesitant to do all that on children. Plus, Madelyn has A LOT of hair. I think it would be cute though.

Happy Summer to us!!!