whoops

With all the "busy-ness" that summer and end of summer brought for us I can't believe I forgot this one...This guy here finished his Masters in Education! :) Yeah for Chad. Not only did he finish, he finished with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. And he was able to finish with that perfect 4.0 while teaching full time, coaching 2 seasons of basketball, teaching Driver's Education, and being a full-time - very hands-on dad. To say I am proud of Chad is an understatement. I am pretty sure I couldn't have done it. At least not all of that and maintained a perfect grade point. I am very thankful to have a husband who works hard at everything he does. He works hard to provide for his family and take care of us. Thanks Chad for all you do. I (we) love you and are very proud of you! Way to go, Master B!

grillin'

Take a look at this.This was our lunch today.
Cooked by our resident grill chef. Don't worry it wasn't just for us. My parents were down this weekend to celebrate Hilary's birthday so all of them were over as well as Jenny and her crew. The kids enjoyed some tag with U.Matt, some swing time with Nana and the jump around before we ate.Reese had her own time in the jump around when the others were playing tag. It got a little too crazy in there with the big girls, so she had some alone time. After the yummy dinner the girls headed down to the basement for a fashion show while the adults relaxed. Next up was mudslides prepared by the birthday-girl. More yum. What a great day!

apple fun

Yesterday we headed over to the Apple Festival with the girls. Addy felt the need to dress for the occasion. ;) We made it just in time to catch the parade. We met up with our cousins there. When the local dentist went by on his float Reilly was thrilled with her tooth brush....Presley on the other hand wasn't sure that she got so lucky (floss). Oh yeah, we also ran in to Nana there. (Papa and A.Hildy came by later after completing their 16 mile Fun bike ride.) Addy lucked out in the candy department. She had her pockets stuffed and almost resorted to filling the apple backpack. ;) Who knew tractors could look that much better in pink?
Of course the green still looked good too. No small town parade is complete without a long line of tractors.

Thanks cousins for a good time.

daycare party

Addison celebrated her 3rd birthday at daycare today.Only 1 month late. :) Apparently the girls couldn't be bothered with looking at the camera...the new movie was on. Addy sure lucked out. She had quite the loot when we picked her up after school today. Lots of goodies and even an ice cream cake. Thanks everyone for making her day so great! (And to Mawmaw for taking the pictures.)

???

Just can't figure this one out...
Sunday morning we started Reese on an anti-seizure medicine. Chad and I were nervous about starting such a strong medicine, but after talking with Dr.'s and neurologist we agreed that this was the best option for now.
So we gave her the 1st dose Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church. About 40 minutes later Reese had another seizure. All of her seizures (4) have been about the same time of the day. This seizure was very similar to her other ones. She acts completely normal. She was running around playing with her sisters and all the sudden stopped. Chad happened to see her and catch her before she fell. He laid her on the couch and then realized another one was starting and moved her to the floor. I grabbed the phone and looked at the clock to start timing it.
This one lasted about a minute. (Same as the other ones.) She seemed a bit more agitated after she came out of this one than she did with the others. With the others when she comes out of it, she is so tired, she just falls into a deep sleep. This one she was tired, but was alert enough to hear me talking. She would try to fall asleep and hear me talking, and give me an annoyed look. :) I kind of liked that as weird as it sounds. She was back to her old self.
I called the Dr.'s who were on call and they said she didn't need to be seen, they just wanted us to watch her and if anything was different than to let them know. We called the pharmacist because we knew we wouldn't be able to get a hold of the neurologist. The pharmacist told us that we could either 1. wait to give her the next dose of medicine until talking with the neurologist or 2. go ahead with her normal dose at night. The pharmacist didn't think the medicine could cause a seizure. Chad and I weren't so sure. It just seemed to ironic that she hadn't had a seizure in over a month and then 40 minutes after we gave her the first dose she had one. The neurologist called me as soon as the office opened on Monday morning. My brother-in-law's sister work there and had called the neurologist on Sunday to give her a heads up. (Thanks Pam!) I was so happy to talk to her. She calmed us down and assured us that there is nothing in the medicine that should cause a seizure. She said as hard as it is to believe she really thought it was a coincidence. She told us that she was sure we were scared to death to give her the next dose. I told her that I was - that I felt like I was causing her seizures now. She assured us that we weren't. She said to go ahead and give her the next dose and if she would have another one right after that then we were to let her know. She said she had told her office and they were on alert. So as nervous as we were we went ahead and gave her the medicine - in fact she's now had 4 doses with thankfully no more seizures. It looks like it was just a bad coincidence. The neurologist also told us that in order for this medicine to be considered a "working therapy" (working to stop seizures it would need to build up in her system for several weeks. So she told us that theoretically if she were to have another seizure before several weeks pass they would not rule out this medicine as not working yet.
And in perfect timing when we got home Monday afternoon we had paperwork for us to fill out to get a 2nd opinion at Riley's for November. We are still planning to keep that appointment. Just think it's best to have a fresh set of "expert" pediatric specialist eyes take a look at all her tests and hear her story. The good thing is - they can't find anything. The bad news is - they can't find anything. We appreciate all of the prayers and ask that you keep them coming!

And we're off...

To another great year of pre-school.
Presley started back today. She was so excited to see her teachers and friends again.


Addison was a bit sad that she couldn't go to pre-school this year. (And so were we.) This picture is where Addy was telling Presley that she would miss her when she was at school. :( Presley helped her pack a back pack with a show and tell inside that she could take to Mawmaw's to show her friends.
Waiting outside of her pre-school.


She LOVES her teacher!

Meeting up with a friend from last year.As soon as we picked her up after school. She was SO EXCITED and her sisters were glad to have her back too. While we were waiting in line to pick her up, Reese spotted Presley and started waiving.
We had to stop by Mawmaw's after we picked her up so she could tell her about her 1st day.
We had a very successful first day and are looking forward to many more!

Labor Day Campin'

We were able to visit Yogi & friends over the long Labor Day weekend. My sister Hilary joined us Saturday morning. I wanted to get a picture of all of us with the bears, but the guy who was helping with the pictures wasn't sure how to use our camera without a zoom... :( So you will just have to trust me...all of Reese was there and A.Hildy was on the other side of Reese. :) Of course the girls spent lots of time at the splash pad on a couple of different days...
The girls helped keep Reese entertained (and contained) by playing with her in her stroller.

We made a couple of trips to the nearby outlet malls and found quite a few bargains! The girls especially lucked out. We also played at the park, took a wagon ride and of course had campfires.The weather was great and so was the company!

a look around

Here is my classroom.
My sister Hilary made my curtains for me. Don't they look great! Great job, Hil! I thought I would show her what they look like hung up.
This shot is from the front of my classroom. As soon as I took this picture I had to straighten that table. Just bugged me that it was not straight. :)
Another shot from the front corner. That's the bathroom in the back left corner.
This is standing behind my desk looking towards the front. I am connected to another kindergarten classroom through the door next to the computers and then the door to the hallway is next to that. Bathrooms are right outside my classroom door.
A shot of the stairs going up to the library loft.
Please excuse the mess in housekeeping. After I see these pictures we will be talking about how to properly put books back on the shelf in library and how to put the food away in the cupboards. :P
Here is our "pit" (sunken area). The orange tape are the kids "parking spots". The library loft is above the "pit".
A shot towards the front from the "pit". Our circle time rug and also this is a door to exit the school at the end of the day. Reading table is up front.
And last a shot of our computer area. The other kindergarten classroom is straight through those doors.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Thanks again, Hil! I love my curtains.

p.s. I wonder if you are turning in to the "Crafty Lady 2"? :)