And now the pictures of the boys

I am back from getting the boys' pictures done. Brenden is in fifth grade and Spencer is in first grade.

I went shopping this morning. I was standing in line at Kmart at 5:30am. I've never done that before, the whole stand in line waiting for doors to open on black Friday thing. And it's not likely I'll do it again either. Craziness I tell ya! I went to Kmart and WalMart and then I had to come home for the boys' pictures. But it was kind of a neat experience. We had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday and my dad spent the night and left around 9 this morning. The kids loved having him spend the night. He slept in the boys' room and the boys slept in Cassidy's room on the floor. They stay up and giggle and talk too much when Dad tries to sleep in the same room with him and my dad needed to get some sleep. And then we woke up to it snowing this morning. Me earlier than others and I had to stand in it for 1/2 hour, which is a lot less time than a lot of the other people had been standing there. Well, I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and didn't eat too much. I swear I stayed full all day from just the first time we ate and then dinner leftovers pushed my tummy further than it would have liked. Seriously the most stuffed I can remember ever feeling. So now I should probably run like 10 miles today but considering my max so far has been 2, 2 will have to do.

Picture time!

Today was picture day for Cassidy to get her 3 1/2 year pictures taken. She did the top pose all on her own and Katie (photographer) turned the camera quickly and snapped the picture. This is the second or third time that Cassidy has just done a pose on her own that looked awesome. She's a natural at it. And the fact that I take pictures all the time helps too!



I had to post this bottom pose because it shows her entire outfit which I think is just so cute. It's a sweater dress and leggings. I love the sweater dress because when I was a little girl I wore those too.

I get the boys' pictures done on Friday since they are off of school. I didn't pay for the ones done at school because that would have cost us $70. Awful isn't it. The school pictures always cost so much so I usually take them to Sears for the $7.99 package. I'll post their pictures on Friday.

Here's an update

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been quite busy here. We are all healthy now (knock on wood) and the swine flu has left our house. Good Riddance. It was not fun. I spent last Thursday and Friday training for my job while laying in bed with my notes right beside me. Thankfully training was only 4 hours a day. Shows my dedication to the job by training while running a 102 fever and going through a roll of toilet paper for blowing my nose in one 4 hour period. I was miserable but I had no other choice. I couldn't put off training when we need the job right now. It's been 5 1/2 months now since Richard lost his job. No prospects on the horizon either. He's putting his resume out there when there is a place to submit it. But there are just no opportunities in his field right now. I'll be working 3pm-8pm this coming Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. I get Thanksgiving day off, which is great since I'm the one who makes everything at my house.

Brenden had basketball practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night and Spencer had his first meet and greet with his team this morning where he got broken in quickly with a 1 1/2 hour practice. Brenden got to go on the court and help out too by passing with them and playing in a 5 on 5 game with them. The little ones had no idea what they are doing yet. The coach hasn't coached boys ever. He has 4 daughters and his grandson is on the team so it's been a while since he coached and never this little of kids. And it is completely evident because he just jumped right in thinking they already know the basics of the game and it's their first year. But some dad's got in there and helped out. He was telling them not to press the court, congest the area, and talking about offense and defense. These first graders were clueless. I think I will mention to the coach's son in law (who was 1 of the dad's helping out) that he should remind the coach that these kids are first timers and don't understand the terms he's using and he has to show them and explain to them. He was a great coach though and the kids will be awesome he just needs to slow down and find a way to break it down to first graders. Brenden's first game will be next Saturday. I put on my application that I am not available on Saturdays so I will be able to make all the games for both boys.

Training ended on Friday and I'll be "thrown to the wolves" on Monday to take my first calls. I have to take orders and take service calls regarding refunds, replacements, shipping, complaints, and whatever service issue a customer may have. It's been a while, 10 1/2 years to be exact, since I've done a job like this. Wish me luck! Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

What I thought was just illness....

A trip to the Dr for Spencer and Cassidy on Monday confirmed that Cassidy has H1N1 and Spencer is getting over it. Cassidy was given Tamiflu but since Spencer is no longer running the fever and has only the cough he wasn't given Tamiflu because it is only to shorten the duration of the flu. Both are doing well. Spencer's cough is awful and he is taking albuterol cough medicine for it. His lungs were clear at the Dr and she told me what to watch for pneumonia wise. Cassidy had just gotten sick Sunday evening/Monday morning and after already having tylenol she was still running a 102 fever when they checked her at the Dr office. So, now I'm feeling a little crappy but trying to head it off before it gets too bad by taking robitussin already.

On better news, I actually started training for a job yesterday for 1800Flowers.com. This is an at home position taking customer calls and placing orders. And yes, I'm doing the training knowing full well that I will feel like crap later this week but I'm gonna fight through it anyway because I'll do what I have to do for our family right now. Training is only 4 hours a day so I can sleep until training if need be and crash immediately following. Richard said he'd figure out a way to set it up in bed for me if I need to. Right now I'm joining in a group training meeting and learning the screens and listening to the trainer. So it would be do-able laying sick in bed I suppose. Anyway, lets just hope I don't get too sick.

The almost sleepover and conferences

Spencer had a friend spend the night last night - sort of. Zack ended up going home at 10:45 but he came with every intention of sleeping here. Spencer and Zack have talked about it all week at school. They are best friends, they sit beside each other in class, they play together at school every day and here all the time. We had frozen pizza for dinner and milk and cookies later, they played football outside with Brenden and then played all night until 10 when I tucked them in. Then Brenden came downstairs telling me Zack wanted to go home and Brenden had told him to go ahead and get his stuff together and he'd help him. When Zack came downstairs we could tell he was scared because he didn't say a word to us he just shook his head. So I drove him home, which is down the street two blocks. We had him here a few weeks ago until 9pm trying to get them ready for the first sleepover because he kept asking if he could stay over and we knew how it goes from Brenden's first attempts when he was this age. So we'll give it another try in another 6 months-1year.

We had parent-teacher conferences this week at school and Spencer's teacher didn't even know the Spencer and Zack were best friends. They sit together but are very quiet and don't talk when they aren't supposed to. She said sometimes when she sees other kids talking in free time she'll see the boys whispering to each other that's how good they are. She said if she could have a class full of Spencer that would be perfect. When I went in saying he certainly doesn't talk alot like Brenden does he (she was his teacher in first grade too) she said "Spencer talks?" kidding of course. But she said he's just so quiet and polite and follows the rules to a T. He got all S+'s on his grade card. She called him her Super Student. That's so awesome. And since I'm mentioning Spencer's grades I can't leave out Brenden. He is doing excellent as well. His teacher said he is very good in class and he is doing above average work for fifth grade. He had all A's and B's. His gym teacher gave him an A+ with a mention of liking his project she had them do because it included a picture of her son, Dallas Cowboy player Bobby Carpenter. So as Pam told me yesterday, I'm reaping the fruits of my labor in raising good children. I couldn't be prouder of both of them.

Sickness, round 2

Well here come the winter sickies. Brenden is home sick today (yesterday too) with a stomach virus. Everyone else is doing fine. Spencer was home a few weeks ago with strep throat. We are all taking our Flinstones Multivitamins (yep, me and Richard too) and I'm spraying the lysol and making sure the kids are washing their hands. One of Brenden's teachers had H1N1 last week as well as her kids and a third grade teacher and her kids did too. They said it is brutal. Trying to keep it away from us.

Have tissues ready

6-Year-Old Girl with Brain Cancer Hid Love Notes for Her Parents to Find After Her Death

When 6-year-old Elena Desserich was diagnosed with brain cancer, she began hiding hundreds of little love notes around the house for her parents to find after she was gone. Here’s the story:

Just before her sixth birthday, Elena Desserich (right) was diagnosed with brain cancer and given 135 days to live. She lived 255 days, passing away in 2007. After her death, Elena’s parents, Brooke and Keith, found hundreds of notes from Elena hidden around the house — in between CD cases, between bookshelves, in dresser drawers, in backpacks….

"It just felt like a little hug from her, like she was telling us she was looking over us"

Elena left hundreds of notes like these:

See more of Elena’s notes

Elena’s parents, Brooke and Keith Desserich, have now published these notes in a book called Notes Left Behind to fund a non-profit organization The Cure Starts Now dedicated to fighting pediatric brain cancer.

Link to story (book excerpt) over at Today | The Love Notes | Official Website

I just wanted to share this beautiful story with everyone, sad as it may be. Brain cancer is something that has touched us with the loss of Brenden's friend a few years ago and I just want to continue to support any awareness of it that I can.