These are the Days...

Polygraph School

2009-05-08T22:22:00.002-04:00

I know I have been MIA for quite a while now. Just a quick update. I was accepted into Polygraph school for the police department. It is a very tough school, I was really excited to be accepted. It's a 2 month school, they say its like a masters course in 8 weeks. Its been a long time since I've been in school so its pretty tough.

Of course right after I started school the bedbug business took off. Great timing, but what can you do.

Mothers Day is not going to be very fun, I have 3 test next week to study for:(

Fun in the backyard

2009-03-23T22:44:00.002-04:00

Ok, some of these pictures look like someone is going to end up at the ER, but it was funny.

I have a staple in my mouth!

2009-03-15T21:50:00.002-04:00

Michael had been saying for a few days that he had a staple in his mouth. I figured, whatever, he says strange stuff all of the time. In the fall after he caught a cold he would say that he had leaves in his mouth. I guess he put 2 and 2 together, played in the leaves, got a sore throat. I knew there was no way that he really did not have a staple in his mouth so I did not give it much thought.

On Thursday morning Eric was getting ready to take the boys for a dentist appointment. Michael says to me that he is going to ask the dentist about the staple in his mouth. I told him "Michael you do not have a staple in your mouth", he insisted he did. I went and got a flashlight and looked in his mouth....well he has a new tooth coming in behind a wiggly baby tooth. Now that explained everything, I really could understand why he thought it was a staple. He was very proud to show the dentist his new tooth. Turns out most of his bottom front teeth are loose. Guess the tooth fairy is going to be busy!

Knowledge

2009-02-19T22:59:00.002-05:00

Today as I was getting ready for work Michael was in his room looking at the library books that he had just gotten from school. He came out of his room holding a book open and said "I think we should go to the Lincoln Memorial some time like Dr. King did". I was amazed. He had a book about Dr. King and he was looking at a picture of Dr. King giving his "I have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial. I told Michael that we would definitely go there this spring.

Even though I still see them as my babies they are growing up so fast. I was not really a fan of them attending an all day kindergarten. I thought it would just be too much, they were too young...well, when I see how far they have come and how much they have learned it all seems worth it.

Inner Peace

2009-01-23T09:24:00.001-05:00

Most of my friends know that I am a huge Oprah fan. I took her advice and watched the Dr. Phil show. For those of you who did not get a chance to see the show I just wanted to post and let you know how well his advice worked....

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace. Dr Phil proclaimed, 'The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished.' So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a bottle of Kailua, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now. Please pass this on to those whomever you think might be in need of inner peace.

Snow Tubing Pictures

2009-01-20T00:01:00.002-05:00

The ride to the top of the hill was interesting.

Left to Right: David N, Jessica, David C, Michael and Ben

David is ready to go!

You would not believe how much snow one kid can eat.

Snow Tubing

2009-01-19T23:51:00.002-05:00

Today we went snow tubing with the Cohen-Cerkovnik family. What a great time. It did not start off as a smooth trip. We had a lot of trouble finding snow boots, gloves, etc. Of course our stuff is still packed away from construction (but that's another story). We went to Ski Liberty. At first it was just flurrying, but then it really started snowing. I can't believe all of the kids went down the hill, I thought for sure out of 5 - 5year olds someone would be scared. Really the funniest part of the day was the ride to the top of the hill. You step onto an incline conveyor belt. I was behind Ben, he wasn't waiting for anyone, he was on a mission to get to the top of the hill. I look behind me and David and Michael are falling down on the conveyor and it doesn't look as if Sharon is doing much better! I was lucky to stay on myself I was laughing so hard.

I was able to take this video of David as we tubed down the hill together. I wish I was able to get one of all the kids, but the snow got so heavy I figured I was in danger of ruining my camera.

Love

2009-01-15T09:47:00.002-05:00

Last night David comes and gives me a hug. He said to me "Mommy, I love you so much that it makes me want to cry". He was totally sincere and almost made me cry. .... That was the end of the sincerity...I told Eric what David said so then Michael said the same thing to Eric and I followed by a fake cry, followed by David hugging me and fake crying...this went on the rest of the evening.

My lesson, live in the moment, its fleeting.

Christmas

2008-12-27T18:29:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that Christmas is over. What a fantastic Christmas this was. My Christmas week started with the Channel 2 Toy Run in Baltimore. I started doing this about 4 years ago. It really puts things into perspective. The toy drive starts off to benefit the families of fallen officers and fallen firefighters. Unfortunately there have been way too many line of duty deaths this year, most of the officers had small children. These families are honored at a dinner before we deliver the toys. Then we load police cars as full as we can with gifts. One of the places we took toys was to the Ronald McDonald house. It breaks my heart to see the families there from all over the world who would give anything to have a healthy child. We met one father whose 2 year old daughter was going to have a liver transplant the next day. I know all of our prayers were with her. There was probably 2 miles of police cars filled with toys, what a great way to start off Christmas.

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun. During the day we met Sharon and Michelle and kids at Jump Zone. I think Eric had as much fun as the kids did running around and playing. We went to church with Dave, Beth, Dannie, Alyssa, and Lucille. All of the kids were called to the front of the church to talk about Christmas. The pastor asked why were we celebrating, I was so proud of Michael when he was the first one to say it was baby Jesus' birthday! After church we went to Watkins park for a drive through Christmas light show. By the time we got home it was already 8:30, way past bedtime so we checked on north pole.com and could see that NORAD was tracking Santa and that he was getting ready to cross the ocean. That was all the kids needed to hear, straight to bed and not a word out of them till morning.

Christmas morning was a blast, David handed out most of the presents, they loved everything they got, it didn't matter if it was a new game for the Wii or new underwear! We had breakfast and played until it was time to go to Beth and Dave's for dinner. We had a really nice time at dinner and for once I did not have to rush out. I did not have to be at work until 7pm!

The days after Christmas have been spent playing. The boys are really getting a workout playing Outdoor Adventure on the Wii. Sunday the boys and I will leave for mom and Jerry's house. Eric will be staying home to take care of the dogs

Halloween - a little late

2008-11-11T20:50:00.002-05:00

Halloween was a blast. David was batman, Michael was Darth Vader. The day started off fun, they were able to wear their costumes to school and at the end of the school day there was a Halloween parade. After school we came home to carve pumpkins. I had worked my butt off this week and had to save all of my carving for Halloween. As usual I was able to get 4 pumpkins carved with a little help from the boys.

As evening approached it was hard to keep their enthusiasm contained, when it turned 6pm we were out the door. David originally wanted to stay home and hand out candy, of course he changed his mind. We went trick or treating with the kids friends Tori, Nicholas and Johanna. It was a mad dash through the neighborhood. This was Nicholas' first Halloween, he was so darn cute running from house to house, made me miss the boys being his age (3). After quite a bit of trick or treating David decided he had enough and wanted to go home and hand out candy. Unfortunately most of the trick or treaters were done, but he did get to hand out some. After handing out candy for a little while he thought we should do some more trick or treating--why not so off we went.

Saturday I took the boys to Valley View Farms to see a giant pumpkin. They cut the pumpkin open and you had to guess how many seeds were inside. A little hint--there are not as many seeds as you would think. There were about 650 seeds, my guess was 1500. There was a mini haunted house at Valley View Farm. Michael was so exited, he's wanted to go to a haunted house all of October. David reluctantly agreed to go in. The first room we entered had an octopus that bounced up and down and blew bubbles. Not really Halloween material I thought, but David thought otherwise, he turned and ran as fast as he could to get out. While David sat on a bench I took Michael through the rest of the haunted house (it took us about a minute to go through so its not like David was sitting by himself for long). As most of you know, I'm not a fan of scary stuff. Michael loved the skeleton and monster that jumped out at us, me, not so much. Michael tried to convince David to go back in, he was so sweet saying he would hold one hand and I could hold the other. David agreed to go back in if I carried him. So I carried him and had to practically run through because he was terrified.

Next we went to see Nathan play in a soccer game. His team came in 2nd in the championship and he got a trophy. Afterwards we went back to Lisa and Chris's house where I tried my hand at guitar hero. Well guitar hero I am not, but it was fun playing. Lisa and I took all of the boys on a Haunted Hayride. Lisa was told it was not too scary so we figured we would give it a try. We all loaded into a tractor pulled wagon, poor David sunk so deep into the straw it was as if he were trying to disappear. Of course monsters and ghosts and all sorts of scary stuff comes running at the wagon, David doesn't make a sound, just sinks further into the straw. Michael on the other hand decides its a good idea if he screams at the monsters to make them go away. He screamed so loud that he should have a part in a horror movie. After he would scream he would crack up laughing. I was in tears I was laughing so hard, its hard to be scared with Michael around. As we neared the end of the ride David did scream a time or two to try to scare monsters away. David said he liked it but I doubt I could have gotten him to go again. Nathan and Michael on the other hand were not afraid at all.

I think this may have been our most fun Halloween yet!

Lack of Posts

2008-10-25T21:44:00.005-04:00

I have had some complaints about the lack of post out there, sorry. We have had a lot going on, like that is unusual. I will start with today and work back....

Today I took the boys to Michelle and Steve's house for lunch and pumpkin painting. We had a terrific lunch, Michelle and Steve are great cooks. We then went to buy pumpkins for the kids to paint, only problem it was pouring down rain so the pumpkin farm was closed. Turned out not to be a big deal, Michelle had cup cakes for the kids to frost and decorate. Its seems a little bit of sprinkles goes a long way. I then had to hurry home and drop the boys off at our neighbors Slade and Wendy's house. Thank goodness we have good friends. I had an annual compliance meeting with Primerica. Even though I'm not very involved in Primerica anymore I still am a firm believer in how they help families and I want to make sure my license stays current.

Yesterday (Friday) I decided I was not going to be able to make it! Eric had a goal of not turning on the heat until November 1st. I worked 12 hours from Thursday into Friday on overtime and was cold and tired after I finally woke up. Figured I would just take the chill off the house---I turned on the furnace and ---- nothing. Seems that something is not working so we have no heat. Just when it seems that maybe I will be able to pay for carpet for the new master bedroom something else has to happen :( Seems like working my butt of is barely helping, we still don't have a kitchen or a floor....

Wednesday: Chris and I had a job at a very local hotel for bedbug service. Blanca did well and I think this will turn into a recurring contract == yeah!

Tuesday: We got a new dog today--Gibson. He's a 1 1/2 year old yellow lab that will chase a ball for hours. We are trying to decide on a new name for him, we don't really care for Gibson. Michael says he's going to call him Biscuit Gibson Nelson. Who knows, maybe that will stick. He's great with the kids, he practically throws his toy at you for you to throw it. I keep saying that if he doesn't smell bugs that he will go the way of the beagles (did I mention the beagles didn't work out, they are now smelling rabbits on a big farm). As I'm typing this, Biscuit Gibson Nelson is laying under the desk on my feet, he reminds me of Rocky, I hope he does a good job smelling bugs, I think I really like him :)

Ok, I think I'm all caught up, I'm going to try to upload some pictures. Sunday we have the FOP Halloween party, I'm sure that will be fun.

We have paint!

2008-10-03T22:10:00.001-04:00

Hooray!!! We actually have paint on the new master bedroom walls. Next will be trim, doors and carpet!

Volunteering

2008-09-24T21:04:00.002-04:00

I was able to volunteer in David & Michael's classroom yesterday and today. What an experience. I am so fortunate to be able to do this, and it really gives me an understanding of what they are doing everyday and learning. I am struck by the amount of extra work that is needed to be done. I made tons of copies, cut shapes out, made binoculars, and spent time having each of the kids in the class read to me one on one. Mrs. Travers, their kindergarten teacher is wonderful. She keeps the kids right on track and she really appreciated all of the help I was able to give.

I really feel that I got just as much out of volunteering in the classroom as I gave. I want to boys to know that we feel their education is important and that its a priority. While there are a million things that I could be doing while they are at school, in the long run its not those little things that really count. Eric and I were talking and he said that this is the stuff they are going to remember, they were so proud to show off their mom at school and to let everyone know that I was there helping Mrs. Travers.

Touchdown

2008-09-22T20:57:00.000-04:00

Tonight was the Blackhawks first scrimmage. First of all I still really don't get what a scrimmage is, isn't it just another game? The boys for the most part seem to have fun. David has gone through some "I don't want to play" stages. Tonight Michael actually scored a TOUCHDOWN! Unfortunately Eric missed it because he was tending to Davids wound. David had a teeny tiny cut on his finger that he was screaming for a bandaid for. Michael was so proud of himself, and we were thrilled. One of the coaches wives was able to find David a bandaid thank goodness. Still even with the bandaid he was refusing to go back in the game. He is finally persuaded to play and --- you guessed it --- TOUCHDOWN. It was pretty incredible that our team scored 3 touchdowns and 2 of them were made by our boys. Do we have future NFL stars? I doubt it but we are proud none the less. Eric has made sure to tell them that not everyone gets touchdowns so they won't think they are supposed to get one every game.

Our house

2008-09-06T17:14:00.002-04:00

The house is really coming along. On Wednesday Taras and Eric broke through the downstairs family room wall. It makes our family room seem huge. Although it sounds good, its really a pain due to the fact that we now have 4 dogs. We had really gotten used to having the back addition to keep the dogs separate from the rest of the house. Today (Saturday) Eric and Taras finished hanging the drywall in the downstairs addition, it looks great. Hopefully we can get Jose out to the house soon to finish the drywall. I am figuring the next steps are to finish the drywall, paint and then put the floor in. We'll see how long that takes!

First Week of School

2008-09-06T17:04:00.002-04:00

The boys have finished their first week of school. So far they love it. Michael talks about the new friends he's making. David loves to buy chocolate milk in the lunch line. It's so weird that they are not home during the day :( We are getting ready for a hotel expo in Baltimore so I have gotten a lot of work done while they are not there.

They are tired and hungry when they come home. I don't think its clicked yet in their heads that they only have a certain amount of time for lunch. The first day of school, neither one ate hardly anything, they said they ran out of time. Its getting a little better, but they still don't eat much at school. Tori comes home with us after school, so its get home, snack and then playtime. I guess sooner than later they will start having homework so that will take a bite out of our evening time.

Summer's Over

2008-08-26T20:02:00.003-04:00

I took the boys to the state fair today while Eric and Taras worked on the house....that's another post that I just don't feel like doing now. With school starting Wednesday I wanted to do something fun. We got to the fair early because I wanted to watch the horse show. Really, if you ever need a cheering section, let me know and I will bring the boys. They picked a favorite in every class we watched. Usually their favorite did not win which didn't make them happy. Then of course we did the rides. My favorite was when they boys went to the fun house. I was laughing so hard I was in tears. People walking by must have thought I was crazy. Michael and David were trying to make their way through the "glass house". You would think after the first time Michael walked face first into the glass he would have figured it out, nope. He kept crashing into the glass face first, I think he started to panic because he started crashing face first into the glass even faster (I'm cracking up laughing as I'm writing this). Finally the carnival guy lets me in, but before I could get to Michael an older boy helped him. Now the other funny part is that I have to continue through the fun house. I have to admit it was hard making it through the glass house, but I was sure to keep my hands out!

Hopefully I did not wear them out too much. A full day of school and football in the evening? Stay posted....

Football Season

2008-08-25T22:22:00.003-04:00

Today was the first day of flag football. I was really hoping that they would have fun, they were so excited about it I don't think they realize it would be hard work. Turns out that they loved it. The kids were divided up in groups and they would move around to different stations. It cracked us up to see the blocking station. I was under the impression that flag football was not a contact sport. Eric told me of course they still block, they just don't tackle. Unfortunately at the football catching station the boys seem to have inherited my skill of catching :( They played for about an hour and were tired and sweaty by the end but they both said they loved it.

Dorney Park

2008-08-23T14:21:00.004-04:00

We finally made it to mom and Jerry's to go to Dorney Park. It just would not be summer with out a trip to the amusement park. We also went to the Crayola Factory in Easton PA. All in all it was a fun and exhausting trip. The boys seem to have never ending energy, I don't know how mom and I kept up with them.

David had a lot of fun catching bugs in the backyard. Mom had gotten each of the boys a bug collector kit. David caught mostly moths, Michael just wanted you to catch the bugs for him--they were hard to catch. The funny part was when David asked mom if she had coconuts in her yard--well, it wasn't a coconut, it was rabbit poop! Guess it looks like a baby coconut? Everyone except for David thought it was hilarious.

The Boy Who Tries Things

2008-08-11T10:03:00.002-04:00

Hooray, "the boy who tries things" is back. David has referred to himself over the past year or so as "the boy who tries things". Well that boy has been gone for quite a while. Yesterday we went blackberry and peach picking with Sharon, Ben, Jessica, David and their cousin Rebecca. I could not get David to try a peach, but when we moved to the blackberry field he asked if he could eat a blackberry. Turns out he loved it. Sharon asked if he was the boy who tries things and he said that "yes, I'm the boy who tries things again".

After peach picking we went back to Sharon's to play, the kids had a great time playing on the slip and slide and the playground. While we were getting dinner ready the kids were watching the Olympics. If you ever need a kid to cheer you on in something its Michael. He is the most enthusiastic, team spirited kid out there. Michael was telling all the kids that we root for the USA because that's were we live, but that we root for the Orioles as well.

On Saturday we went to Glen Echo park. For the boys birthday Alex and Elizabeth had given tickets to a puppet show. Again, Michael was in the very front laughing louder than anyone else. It was a beautiful day, after the show we played on the playground and rode a carousel from 1921. Michael is still running around singing "were wolfing" from the puppet show.

Please help

2008-08-11T09:58:00.003-04:00

Below is from my neighbors blog. http://sbwlw.spaces.live.com/ Slade and Wendy adopted a beautiful boy Nicholas from Russia. It turns out that he has something called Fragile X. Please take a minute and go to the AMEX site and vote.

Ok, I know that there are many, many readers out there. I see your numbers on my counter everyday. So, I am asking a favor of all my blog readers. I need you to VOTE. Not for the president but for a piece of the 2.5 million dollars that AmExpress is donating to organizations, and FRAXA is one of the organizations. You do not even have to be an AMEX member to vote. Here's the site to vote: http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/PUPSKI
If you have been reading the blog, you know that Nicolas was diagnosed with Fragile X back in July.
A little about Fragile X and the project
More than 1.1 million children and adults worldwide – 1 in 4,000 males and 1 in 8,000 females -- suffer from Fragile X, the most common known inherited cause of intellectual impairment and autism. Fragile X can cause seizures, mental retardation, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. An additional 1 billion people around the world are carriers of this devastating disorder – most without knowing it.
Studies of Fragile X and autism have been galvanized by families and loved ones of the disabled. Clinical trials of new treatments are ongoing. But we have not yet found effective treatments or the cure, and children are waiting. The need for more funding for Fragile X research is urgent. More broadly, this project will show parents of disabled, suffering children everywhere that they are not helpless: by banding and working together, parents can find a cure

Only back a day

2008-08-03T21:46:00.000-04:00

We returned from our Vacation early Saturday evening. Having 4 kids in the car was really not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Everyone was great except for chatty Michael. My mom and grandparents often tell the story of how I talked the entire way home from Kansas (driving) when I was a little kid. I found that story endearing--that is until I have to hear Michael talk the entire way home from Williamsburg! Now I feel bad for my grandparents so long ago, must have been a long car ride from Kansas to Cumberland.

Sunday morning I receive a call from my mom who tells me that my Grandmother has been taken to the hospital basically unresponsive and they believe she has congestive heart failure. I could not believe it, we had not even been home 24 hours, Grandma had done well on vacation. I really had a bad feeling and knew that I needed to make the drive to Cumberland. Luckily Eric only had the 3 boys, Brittany was going to spend the day with my other nieces Danielle and Alyssa.

By the time I got on the road, mom called to tell me that Grandma appeared to be doing better and I did not need to come. I still felt I needed to go so I continued. Seeing Grandma in the hospital was hard, I did not really think that she knew I was there. Several hours later the doctor came and drained 1 liter of fluid off of her lung. After he drained the fluid she seemed much better and even ate a little dinner.

Funny story about the doctor draining the fluid. I'm a cop right? Seen a lot of things most people haven't, plenty of it not pretty, really down right nasty. Turns out I'm a complete wuss when it comes to loved ones. My sister Connie and I held my Grandmothers arms to keep her sitting up while the doctor drained her lung. I just kept looking at the fluid filling up in the bottle, there was a lot of it! I started to get this ringing in my ears, I know it means I am not doing great. I tell Connie that she needs to hold both arms so I can sit down. I figure the doctor does not need 2 patients. Connie thought it was hilarious, she thinks I'm supposed to be strong. I don't think she realizes how strong she is. I really don't think I could do the things she's doing right now, she really is doing an amazing job. I am very proud of her.

Williamsburg Vacation

2008-07-31T10:18:00.004-04:00

We are on vacation in Williamsburg Va for our annual family vacation. Eric has the boys at the game room so I figured I would post while I have a few minutes of quiet time. For the past 4 years we have come to Williamsburg with my grandparents and my parents. This year my sister, niece and nephew were able to come.

Typically we don't do much when we come to Williamsburg. We spend most of our day at the pool. I am a very history "challenged" person, really it bores the crap out of me. We have visited historic Williamsburg in the past and I really have no desire to go back. Playing in the pool with the kids is fun enough for me. Yesterday we did take a trip into historic Williamsburg, not for history mind you, but for "the tree". Last year we found "the tree" and took some great pictures. This year we wanted a family picture in front of "the tree". Now mind you, the family consist of 11 people. One in a wheel chair, the other with a walker, 3 kids under 6 years old, and mom ( I will get to mom later!). Eric and I take the kids and leave earlier than everyone else to find "the tree". Luckily it did not take that long to find it because by now the temperature is climbing into the 90's at around 10am. We were able to get the whole family around and I think we got some great pictures. After the "formal" pictures mom thought it would be a good idea for her and Jerry to climb into the tree for a picture, granted their pictures came out really good, but for those of you that know mom you would not be surprised to hear that she fell out of the tree while climbing down! She is a little sore today, but for the most part is OK.

The main focus of our Williamsburg vacation really is family. My sister and I have such fond memories growing up and spending time with our grandparents, I really want my boys to have the same experience.

Well I better get this post saved, I want to meet the kids by the pool.

In the blink of an eye

2008-07-09T22:57:00.002-04:00

Today Wendy had to take Nicholas to a cardiologist for a check up, thank God all is well with his heart. While Wendy was gone I was watching Tori. We went to Tori's back yard and the kids played in the kiddie pool and on the new swing set. The kids were getting tired and I turned my back for just a minute to get Tori a towel when Michael fell off of a swing. He and David were on a two kid glider swing and evidently David told Michael to hold his hands up. David was probably just reenacting our trip to Dutch Wonderland--Michael complained immediately that his head hurt, I just figured no blood, he's OK, yeah I'm sure it hurt but there are really no major marks. I took the kids inside figuring they were tired and enough is enough before someone else gets hurt. Shortly after going inside Wendy got home and Michael started complaining is head hurt. Well now I figure he's just complaining (he's been doing a lot of that lately), I know they want to go home and play the Wii. I bring the boys home and now Michael is wailing about his head. Eric gets him some kids Tylenol and next thing I know he's asleep on the couch. A few minutes later Eric yells for me. I go upstairs and Michael is vomiting. OK, now I'm starting to put 2 and 2 together--Michael gets hit on the head, says it hurts, falls asleep, and now is vomiting. OK, guess that's more than 2 clues. I call the pediatrician who says to take him immediately to the hospital.

On my way to the hospital Michael can't stay awake, he will say one or two words and then drift off to sleep, by the time I get him to the ER he is terribly lethargic. My friend John Freeman was working at APD, I called him to meet me at the ER to help get me checked in. He gets there the same time as me and is able to take my car and park it for me--thank John. While checking in Michael starts vomiting again, he can barely stay awake for them to get his vitals. He is taken pretty much right away for a CAT scan. The scan was perfect thank GOD. Due to the fact that he was still lethargic and vomiting he was admitted to the pediatric floor for observation.

By the time we get to a room Michael is doing much better. He thought it was pretty cool to be able to adjust the bed and to change the channel on the TV. Now that I know he's getting better I start to freak about their birthday party. The doctor assured me that Michael was doing much better and will definitely make the 2pm birthday party!

Around 9:30pm Eric relieved me at the hospital and will stay with him overnight. Michael has been able to keep down the jello and apple juice and was eagerly awaiting a Popsicle when I left.

Hope things go a little better Thursday!

Kitchen Pictures

2008-06-27T23:56:00.003-04:00

Catching Up

2008-06-27T23:44:00.002-04:00

Ok, I'm not going to beat my self up. I keep meaning to go back and update my blog, but life is just too crazy right now. I am just going to pick up from now and move on. I just finished reading my neighbor Wendy's blog and feel inspired to try to slow it down a little bit. So what if I can't be super mom even if my kids think they are superheroes. I have to remember that this is their last summer before school starts (can you believe it?) and I really want to have fun with them.

An update on where we are as of today. The boys are at Connie's house for vacation bible school. I will pick them up on Sunday, I miss them but it sounds like they are having a great time. I figured while they were gone this week that I would try to pick up some overtime, about 38 hours worth, whew I'm tired to say the least. We celebrated Lucille's birthday at Toby's dinner theatre. We saw "All Shook Up", it was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Mom was able to celebrate her birthday in Cumberland. Connie, the kids, Mom, and Granddad took cake to be with Grandma at the rehab center.

We have really moved on with the house. We no longer have a kitchen! I am a little freaked out right now, I have no idea how long we will be without a kitchen. Taras is working on building us a temporary kitchen. On top of everything (literally), Eric took the ceiling down in the kitchen, living room, dining room and hallway, that's when we discovered a leak in our roof that is a year old! Eric went with friends to a ball game, he really deserved a break after all of the work he's done this week. When he gets home tonight he will see that it rained pretty hard and there is a bunch of water on the plastic where the ceiling used to be --- its always something.

I was able to get out some invitations and evites to the boys 5th birthday party, I just can't believe it, this doesn't mean I'm getting older does it?

Kindergarten

2008-04-15T23:36:00.003-04:00

Well, they boys are all registered for kindergarten. I really could not believe it when I was filling out the paperwork, how fast time flies.

I started talking to the boys about maybe being in separate classes. I really thought that David would have a hard time with that idea. Turns out that Michael ended up sobbing, he wants to be in David's class. David says he wants to be in his own class. Michael was so sad, it was really heartbreaking. When I told them I had just registered them, Michael asked if he was going to have to be in his own class, I told them the school said that we could think about it. That seems to make him happy for the time being. The school did tell me that I have until July to decide if I want them together or separate, the decision is ours to make.

I also registered our next door neighbor Tori for Kindergarten. Slade and Wendy are in Russia adopting Nicholas. What an exciting time, we can't wait to meet him.

Busy Day

2008-04-04T20:36:00.002-04:00

I really do mean well--I do think about posting a lot, but it gets put on the back burner. Work has been really busy. The bedbug jobs seem to be picking up. We are inspecting 2 houses on Saturday.

Today was a busy day. Connor and Abby (twins from preschool) were over for a play date today. Connor is Michael's best friend. They all had such a good time and played so well together it was a joy to have them over. Eric and Maria Johnson had given the boys Andre's old Gator truck a few days ago. Michael and Connor would take a turn and then David and Abby would take a turn driving around the cul de sac. After they left we had about 1/2 hour of quiet time and then Tori came over. Our neighbors Slade and Wendy were going to a concert tonight in Baltimore so Tori is over for a sleep over. Our biggest challenge was dinner--Michael is really into burping and really likes to show off at dinner. Other than that, the kids were really pretty good.

We are so excited for Slade and Wendy. They leave next Thursday for Russia. They are adopting "Nicholas" from Siberia! Nicholas just turned 3 years old. He is a very lucky boy to be joining such a great family. I want to take David and Michael to the library this week to get some kids books about Russia so we can learn about where Nicholas is coming from. It should be a really fun summer with this new addition to the neighborhood.

Seymour's 60th Anniversary

2008-03-30T20:45:00.002-04:00

We were all in Cumberland this weekend for my Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. It was really a great time. My grandmother really seemed to be doing great, so much like her old self. My mom did a terrific job planning the dinner. We had dinner at Penn Alps. We have had a lot of family dinners there over the years. We had a dinner for my great grandparents there, for my Aunt's 50th birthday and now my grandparents 60th. Mom made really pretty centerpieces for each of the tables. I can't always picture what she is talking about making, but everything came out really pretty. I loved the colors for the cake, sage green. The cake topper was beautiful even though I could not fit it on the cake.

I think where mom really out did herself was on the activities that she brought for all of the great grandchildren. The stickers were a huge hit when near the end of the evening they all dressed themselves up with stickers all over their faces.

David and Michael put on a show early in the evening with a singing of "God Bless America". It was loved by all!

I am so thankful that we were able to spend this time together as a family. As time goes by, I really appreciate all of these special moments.

To Send or Not to Send-That is the Question....

2008-02-25T00:09:00.003-05:00

Eric and I have been going back and forth the past few weeks trying to decide if the boys should go to kindergarten or wait a year. I really did not think there was any decision to make until recently I learned that a lot of boys with summer birthdays are held back a year to start kindergarten at 6. We did tons of research, all of which was really split 50/50. We talked to a lot of people, again, all split 50/50. Then I talked with their preschool teacher. Mrs. McClellan assured me that they are totally ready for kindergarten. She told me that there are kids in their class that she advises wait another year, but David and Michael are ready!

After the talk with Mrs. McClellan Eric and I have made our decision to send the boys in September. I thought the boys would be so happy when I told them that they are really getting to be big kids and won't it be exciting to go to kindergarten in the fall? Michael is thrilled, David's only response was "but I don't like sandwiches!" (we have told him that a lot of kids like to eat sandwiches in kindergarten). I don't know that David will EVER eat a sandwich, but he will be going to Crofton Meadows kindergarten in the fall!

Been a While

2008-02-13T20:22:00.005-05:00

Wow, I did not realize that I had not made a posting since the begining of January. I think everyone except for me is sticking to their New Years Resolutions. David has had more super thumbs up days than thumbs down days, a lot more; Michael certainly eats plenty of yogurt and cheese sticks; Eric is a great dad! I have my times when I eat better, but I'm so easily distracted:(

On January 10th I began my new position as a patrol Sgt. Its was a rough begining, but I'm getting used to it. My last days in K-9 were so much harder than I thought it would be. I still miss it every day. Bosco is doing well, I don't think he knows I'm going to work without him--I sneak out the door so he doesn't see me in a uniform.

The boys are doing well, they had their Valentine's day party at school today. Nothing like a holiday that revolves around candy! Eric and I are having serious discussions about holding the boys back a year from kindergarten. This seems to be a trend, especially with boys. It may give them an academic edge to be a little older. I have been talking to other parents and reading a ton. I think academically they are ready, I am just not sure about their maturity level.

I probably won't be posting that much in the next few weeks. We are getting ready for a hotel expo in Ocean City. I have so much to do to get ready for that.

New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-02T19:20:00.000-05:00

Eric and I talked to the boys about the meaning of New Year's Resolutions. My resolution is to eat more healthy foods even though I feel I'm running like crazy most of the time. I need to take the time to put my health first. Eric's resolution was to try to be a better dad by being more patient. Michael said his resolution was to eat more cheese sticks and yogurt. David's resolution was to have super thumbs up every day. (That's what he gets at school when he has a good day and is able to keep his hands to himself).

We will do our best to stick to our resolutions.

Best Christmas Ever... Continued....

2007-12-29T19:25:00.000-05:00

Mom and Jerry could not be with us for Christmas this year so we had a Christmas after Christmas. We had a Christmas brunch 4 days after Christmas with Mom, Jerry, Lisa, Chris, Brenna and Nathan. I was looking forward to this so much. Mom had mentioned that she wanted a Wii. Eric and I along with Connie and the kids, Lisa and family, and Grandma and Granddad got her and Jerry a Wii for Christmas. I was so excited to give it to them knowing that they would not be expecting it.

After playing the Wii at Sheila's house, I wanted to try Mom and Jerry's out before giving it to them, "just to make sure it worked"! Eric and I played for hours after the boys went to bed, there is no way we could have a Wii, we would not get anything else done.

The Wii was a huge hit! Mom and Jerry were very surprised. We all spent a lot of time playing. It was fun to watch everyone else play, you really look kind of silly boxing against a TV. I think boxing was a favorite of David, Michael and Nathan. Brenna was really good a tennis.

Hopefully Mom and Jerry will enjoy the Wii, I hope Mom does not overdo it! With Mom's luck she will end up with something crazy like Wii tennis elbow!

The Best Christmas Ever

2007-12-27T22:26:00.001-05:00

The boys kept saying "this is going to be the best Christmas ever". Little did I know they were right. 4 seems to be a really magical age. Everything is just so exciting. We counted down every day of December using an advent house that I made (courtesy of Martha Stewart). We watched hours worth of Christmas shows and sung Rudolph hundreds of times. We drove through a live Nativity and drove through the lights at Sandy Point. How can you not be excited around the boys?

David unfortunately got a cold right before Christmas. Christmas eve he was not feeling great, he woke up coughing at 4am which of course woke up Micheal. Michael decided he did not want to go back to sleep, so none of us really went back to sleep after 4am. This was after I went to bed at 1am and Eric at 2am. We were able to keep the boys in bed (David in his room with me on the floor and Michael in bed with Eric) until 7am. At 7, it was just pure craziness, wrapping paper flying until all the presents were unwrapped. Even though we were tired it was a fun morning.

That afternoon we went to Steve and Sheila's for Christmas dinner. When I talk about Sheila, I just tell people "my other sister in law", its easier to explain that way and Steve and Sheila are family. We had so much fun there. Katie and Kyle had gotten a Wii for Christmas. I'm not really a fan of video games, but let me tell you...it was a blast. Dave and I played tennis and bowling, I'm sure we looked like idiots, but it was great. Dinner was terrific, it was a great end to a great day.

Justice Finally

2007-12-11T23:28:00.000-05:00

Connie came down today for Bobby's court date. He is serving 5-10 in PA. He has been going back and forth as to whether or not he was going to plead guilty or make Brittany go through a trial. Thank God he plead GUILTY! There was a very graphic statement of facts that was read by the States Attorney, that was very hard to listen to without wanting to jump up and cause bodily harm to him. The judge found him guilty and said that because it was a continuing course of conduct that he would not do consecutive terms. The judge also said that he did not agree with PA's low end of the sentence of 5 years and therefore sentenced him to 9 years. This means that he won't be able to get out in 5, that he definitely has to do 9 years. Even though I would have liked him gone for much longer, I have to be realistic, this is Maryland after all.

I am so proud of Brittany. I can't imagine the amount of courage that it must have taken for her to come forward. I know that she said that she would testify against him, but I'm so glad that she won't have to. She has suffered enough. I'm also so proud of Connie. She has lost so much but has remained so strong. I'm not sure at what point I would have lost it, she has been amazing.

Moles

2007-12-11T23:22:00.000-05:00

Today I had an appointment at Johns Hopkins. Its my 6 month check up with the Melanoma Clinic. When the doctor said she saw 2 moles that looked suspicious to her, I asked for them to be removed right away. I had a rather large mole removed from the small of my back--of course its right where my gun belt sits. 4 stitches there. The other was removed from my face, only 1 stitch there. I have learned over the years to not freak out about getting moles biopsied. I have had enough come back perfectly normal, it was just the one that came back as Melanoma. But then again it only takes 1.... I am not going to worry about the results, I will get the results in about 2-3 weeks. Its out of my hands and the moles are removed.

Christmas Tree

2007-12-09T23:45:00.000-05:00

Eric and I figured today was probably the best day out of the next week to go and get our tree. Between the weather, APD, and the bed bug business things have been crazy. Why shouldn't it get a little more crazy? Our friends Wendy and Slade are adopting a child from Siberia! We are so excieted for them, they finally got the call and they have to go to Russia for 2 weeks. Things have been pretty crazy for them and they asked if we could watch Tori for the day while they got things done. The 3 kids were so excieted to be spending the day together. What a great day to take three 4 year olds Christmas tree shopping. It's starting to drizzle, its really muddy, oh well, off we go.

We have been buying our tree from the same place for years. Apart from a bird in the tree (literally) one year and bugs in the tree one year, and Rocky stripping the branches one year, we have had great luck. Before kids, Eric and I would really take our time picking just the perfect tree. Since kids each year we pick a tree a little faster. This year while Eric and I picked the tree, the 3 kids played hide and seek in between the rows of trees, screaming at the top of their lungs as they found each other. With feet covered in mud, its time to go home. On the way home I needed to answer an important phone call. Of course the kids got louder because we asked them to be quite. It ends up with 3 kids in a time out after we get home. I think the time out was better for me than the kids. I enjoyed the 4 minutes of quite before they ran off to play.

Back at home they made us laugh as they played "Book Man". Michael was the "Book Man" and Tori and David were the book readers. I think the jist of it was they were playing library. After removing almost every book the boys have they did a pretty good job of cleaning up. The each selected several books to have read to them. My mom had just gotten into town so she was elected official book reader. I think she read till her eyes crossed.

Slade and Wendy are such good friends. I am so happy that they are going to be blessed with a son in a few months. I'm sure its going to be heartbreaking to meet their son in Russia next week and then to have to leave him in Russia as the paper work is finalized. They should be going to adopt him I think in February. What an exciting time.

Gingerbread House Fun

2007-12-08T23:12:00.000-05:00

Lisa, Brenna and Nathan came down today for what I thought would be a fun (easy) day of making Gingerbread Houses. I thought it would be a fun tradition to start. Guess I should have read the directions, turns out that the house has to sit for about 3 hours total before you can decorate it.

Nathan's birthday is on the 17th so we gave him his birthday present early. It was a "Show me the Money" wrestling toy. He loved it. Its so much fun to give a gift that is truly appreciated. Guess the whole wrestling theme really got the boys wound up and Lisa and I decided that we would not be able to take watching gingerbread houses set and kids turned pro wrestlers for the next 3 hours so it was off to Chucky Cheese. It goes without saying that everyone had a great time at Chucky Cheese. We got back to my house around 6:30. I figured we would be done the houses around 8pm at the latest, yeah right. Around 9:30 we were finally finished. Nathan and Michael had about as much house decorating as they could take after about an hour and they played together. David and Brenna were terrific, they decorated the entire time.

Shop With A Cop

2007-12-08T23:03:00.000-05:00

Every year for the past 3 years I have participated in a program called "Shop with a Cop". The Optimist Club of Anne Arundel Co. has school guidance counselors nominate a child who is doing well in school, but comes from a challenged background. Each child is picked up from home by a police officer and taken to Walmart where they are given a $100 gift card to shop and then we go to lunch at the Outback Steakhouse. I have found it to be a very rewarding experience.

This year was--lets just say---challenging. I had an 8 year old boy that was just overwhelmed with the thought of being able to "buy anything I want". He certainly had no concept of how far $100 would go. There were a few temper tantrums when I would not let him buy rated R movies--I did say he was 8 years old right? Overall he had a terrific time, he bought himself a new bike and several toys and even gifts for his 2 brothers and father. The thing that I found most sad was the fact that he refused to buy anything for his mother. I don't know what his family situation is, but it must be tough.

This is the season of giving, I have found that after the giving of a day with a child that I am truly blessed.

Annual Craft Fair

2007-12-01T22:37:00.000-05:00

For me this is the first sign that its the Christmas season. No, seeing Christmas trees in October when I'm out shopping doesn't do it! Every year for many years (I'm not sure how many), I go to a Christmas craft fair in Harrisburg PA. Its a huge deal, an all day event, Christmas everywhere, I love it. I went with my sister in law Beth, and her sister in law Sheila. Beth's good friend Denise usually goes with us, but couldn't make it this year---we missed her. We saw our other sister in law Cathy there, but only for a brief minute as we were all on a mission to get through this huge craft fair.

Not only did I get some great things, but what I love the most is the drive up and back. We can usually get into some pretty deep conversations and I end up feeling so "connected" with them. I already can't wait till next year.

Mid East Peace Talk

2007-11-28T22:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was working in downtown Annapolis at the Mid East Peace Talk. It was interesting to say the least. I actually learned a little as people screamed at each other. I am used to working in areas where people yell at the police. Yesterday was different in that the police were not being yelled at, we were just between the groups that hated each other. I don't really get why they were protesting, neither side was willing to hear what the other had to say. Seems it went a little better inside of the Naval Academy gates.

Eric is doing a little better, hopefully he continues to get well. I did not think that there has really been much change in Bosco but our friend Taras was over today and mentioned that he thought Bosco had drastically improved (he hasn't seen him in about a week). I guess its hard to see the positive changes when we are still dealing with Bosco's potty issues. I'm hoping its the Prednisone, how many times can a floor be mopped!

Christmas Reindeer

2007-11-25T22:19:00.001-05:00

Today I wanted to find something fun to do. I had heard about a farm called Applewood Farm that has Christmas reindeer. 65 miles did not look so bad on map quest---I did not factor in holiday traffic. It took us about an hour and a half to get there, but it was worth the drive. I had never seen a reindeer much less get to pet one, it was pretty cool. The kids had a fun time petting the reindeer. There was pony rides, train rides, hay rides and games like instead of ring toss it was antler toss, and snowball bowling. There was also a petting zoo, although you really could not pet anything. If Eric had been feeling better you could also cut your own Christmas tree, although its pretty early. I'm really starting to feel a decorating time crunch. Our neighborhood is really starting to light up--we don't have up anything yet.

No other news, Eric and Bosco are both about the same, no real improvement.

So What Next?

2007-11-24T20:12:00.000-05:00

I already have more on my plate than I can handle right now! Bosco is not doing great, he still needs help walking sometimes. This week coming up I have 4 days of working overtime that I just can't get out of (Mid-East Peace talks are at the Naval Academy), so I will be gone from home a lot. So what else could happen? Eric's lower back has been sore for about a week or so, but it happens from time to time. Seems that it is really bad now. Today he pretty much was laid out hoping to lessen the pain, he can hardly move. Of course this is a holiday weekend so he can't see a doctor til Monday---did I mention I'm going to be gone most of this week! I shouldn't say it, but what next?

On a fun note, I took the kids to see Playhouse Disney Live at the Lyric in Baltimore. It was worth every penny to see their faces as they watched the show. I had more fun watching them than I did the show. This is the first time they have seen a show like this. It was funny when we got home hearing them act out the show. What a blast.

Giving Thanks

2007-11-23T21:08:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving this year was terrific. We had dinner at Bruce and Cathy's house, everything was great. Michael sampled a little of everything, David had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner consisting of mostly rolls and cranberry sauce. It was really nice having the Nelson family all together for dinner.

I debated about going shopping today, Black Friday. Luckily my better judgement prevailed and I did a lot of shopping on line. This morning the vet's office called at 7am to say that Mike's dog Angus was not doing well. He was having seizures and had a fever that they could not bring down. The decision was made to euthanize him. Poor Angus, he was a sweet dog, I know that he is at least no suffering anymore.

Eric and I took the boys to the B & O Museum in Baltimore today. Santa arrived by train, the boys were so excited. They got to sit on Santa's lap. Michael asked for a race track and a Scooby Doo Mystery Machine. David asked for a duck, a fish, a race track and a Scooby Doo Mystery Machine. What the heck is with the duck? He asked for one last year and between us and Mom and Jerry he got plenty of "duck" stuff. He was sad and wondered why Santa did not bring him a duck. I can't figure this duck thing out, he says he's not talking about a real duck. The fish caught me off guard. I asked him what kind of fish--he said a goldfish. I asked if it was a real fish, he said no. What am I going to do?

I did brave the stores today and went to Circuit City to pick up a few things I had ordered on line. The boys wanted to go with me, the only thing was is that they were playing dress up in power ranger costumes. I figured what the heck, why not go shopping in costumes. We were quite the sight in Circuit City with a red and a blue power ranger. The things you can get away with when you are 4.

I am very thankful for my family and friends. Thank you for being in our lives.

Trying to catch up

2007-11-21T20:22:00.000-05:00

I will try to catch everyone, I thought that I would be posting more regularly, but life gets in the way...

Bosco has shown slight improvement. He's been on steroids since Saturday. Poor dog, he has lots of energy and no way to get rid of it. We are supposed to keep him pretty quiet and rested, trouble is he feels well, his mind is good, but his hind end is still not connecting with his brain. Hopefully he will continue to improve on the steroids. The main drawback to the steroids is that he drinks a lot, which means he pees a lot, and I do mean a lot! I don't know how many times Eric and I have had to mop the floor downstairs (thank God for tile flooring). Evidently this is just a nasty side effect of the steroids, hopefully it will go away when his dose is lowered. I do still hope that he will be able to return to work, but I think I know in my heart that he won't be able to. Hopefully he will at least be able to play at home and enjoy the rest of his life retired.

Mom came down last Tuesday, we are always happy to see her, but also happy that it usually means that Eric and I get a night out. We went to dinner at Benihanas Wednesday night with Debbie and Taras. We had a fantastic dinner. It was so good to be out with T and Debbie, T does so much for us but I feel like we never see him socially.

Good thing that we got our night out on Wednesday because on Thursday Eric called me at work and told me to meet my mother at the hospital, that an ambulance would be bringing her in. Turns out that (depending on who's side you take), Mom tripped over Blanca, or Blanca tripped my mom. Either way she ended up on the floor hurting her knee and hip in the process. I felt bad for her, she was hurting pretty good, I tried to lighten in up by asking if she hurt Blanca :) The ER doc told her that she had a bone chip on her knee and she would have to be in an immobilizer until she could be seen by an orthopedic doc. Her hip was fine. Luckily she was able to get an appointment on Monday, although she did have to postpone her trip to Cumberland. On Monday the orthopedic doc said that her knee was fine but that he was concerned about the possibility of a fracture in her hip so he sent her for an MRI and told her no driving. Today we went back to the doctor and he said that the MRI was fine, no fracture--finally GOOD NEWS.

On Monday we met Connie, Brittany and Justus at Chucky Cheese in Hagerstown. We were not able to see Justus on his birthday so we met there to celebrate it. The kids had an absolute blast. Hard to believe Justus is 6. Its great that the cousins are so close. I had fun car racing against Britt. I'm a cop, I can drive fast, you would think that I could beat s kid on a car racing video game right---wrong, I think I lost every time!

I had a doctors appointment today as well. It was a followup with my orthopedic doctor for my MRI results on my neck. The MRI showed that I have 3 very small bulges in the disks in my neck. She did not seem concerned about it. She is concerned about my reflexes, evidently they are pretty hyper, so she is referring me to a neurologist (isn't it supposed to be dogs take after their owners, not the other way around?). I'm still doing PT for some neck and back pain, luckily it seems to be just muscular.

Well that should be enough in one week right? Wrong. Last Friday we had an officer get shot during a search warrant. He has a son that is the same age as my boys. It really hits home when something like this happens. Our new K-9 handler, Mike was also on the drug raid and was involved in the shooting. Thank God he is OK. Mike's dog has not been well since he brought him home in Sept. from Miami. Friday night (the night of the shooting) I stopped by Mike's house to check on the dog, Angus. Angus looked terrible, I ended up taking him to the vets where he spent the weekend hooked to IVs and vets trying to figure out why a 2 year old dog was so sick. Monday on my way home from Chucky Cheese the vet called me and told me that Angus has lymphoma. The only options are chemo ($5000) or medication to make his last days more comfortable. I feel terrible for Mike, at least with Bosco I know that I have had a great 10 1/2 years with him as a partner, poor Angus never had a chance.

Today seems to have been a little calmer. Mom was able to get on the road to Cumberland, I know she's happy her hip is not hurt. I was able to get some baking done for Thanksgiving. Michael was actually a big help in the kitchen while David helped Eric wash the cars. I will have a little more baking to due on Thanksgiving, but I think it should go well.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

More on Bosco

2007-11-13T22:16:00.000-05:00

Today I took Bosco to a neurosurgeon in Gaithersburg. I really felt like I was at the right place, they really have their act together there. After the exam, the vet said he did not think it was Degenerative Mylopathy, his concern was cancer. He wanted to do chest and abdomen x-rays mostly due to the fact that Bosco has lost about 6 pounds in just 4 months. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. Bosco has basically stayed within a pound or 2 of his weight since he was 2 years old. He did not have to be sedated for the x-rays, and it only took about 15 minutes. The news was good, no signs of cancer in the lungs.

The next most likely scenario was that Bosco had a bone infection. Evidently they are very common in older German Shepherds. This would be very treatable with antibiotics. Due to the weight loss, the vet said this was a very good possibility. The draw back? A $2500 CAT scan and a spinal tap. With the possibility that it was something as simple as an infection I had to pursue the CAT scan and tap.

Many hours later I am told that its not an infection. There is some sort of "massive" mass "severely" compressing Bosco's spinal cord. The neurologist be lives its a disk either ruptured or herniated, the radiologist believes its a tumor. The neurologist wants to do surgery, if its a disk problem the chances of a full recovery are 75%, if its a tumor then its a 6-12 month life expectancy. The surgery would cost around $6000.

This is tough news to hear, Bosco has been my partner for more than 10 years, one side of me hates for it to come down to a situation where its just about the money. The other side of me realizes that he's 12 years old and really doesn't deserve to be put through a very serious surgery that one expert believes is not going to have a good outcome.

Eric and I are choosing to see how Bosco responds to steroids. The vet says that if its a disk there is a possibility that it will shrink with steroids. If there is no change then we know its a tumor and surgery would have been for nothing. There is a pretty significant risk to using the steroids. Evidently the pain medicine he's been on for years for his arthritis can cause serious GI problems when mixed with steroids. The vet says that since we don't want to go the surgery route, we have to give Bosco the chance that the steroids will work even with the potential of danger.

I am so thankful to be surrounded by friends and family that care so much for Bosco and his family. Thanks for all of your support.

Bosco Update

2007-11-12T22:25:00.000-05:00

Well Tuesday I am taking Bosco to a neurologist in Gaithersburg. I am hoping that he will be able to help me with decisions that will need to be made. My vet now says that she doesn't think its a disk problem due to the fact that he does not seem to be in pain (thank God). She believes its either a Tumor or Degenerative Myelopathy. Neither is great. Bosco actually seems to be doing better today, maybe the acupuncture this past Saturday helped him.

Bosco

2007-11-07T16:32:00.000-05:00

You would think that I would be prepared for Bosco's failing health, I really thought that I was. I mean he's 12 years old! He's a working German Shepherd, they don't normally work as long as he has, a 12 year old Shepherd is almost unheard of in police work.

Last night at K-9 training, my car was empty. It's so strange to ride around in my car without Bosco. On Sunday I noticed that Bosco was really stiff in his hind legs. By Monday he almost fell down the stairs. His hind end is so weak on wobbly. I took him to the vets on Monday morning. I had just come in from court so I was in uniform. People in the waiting room were saying "poor old dog". I mean I know he's old, but seeing him so weak and wobbly just kills me. By the time I saw the vet I couldn't take the waiting room comments any longer and broke down when the vet came in.

The vet said it could be many things causing the sudden down slide. Could be a tumor, disk problem or degenerative mylopothy. She said not to worry because we could do x-rays or an MRI to determine what's going on. I felt so cold hearted when I said that I probably would not want to put him under for either. What's the use. I'm not going to have him operated on, he has had a really good life, I don't want him going through surgery, I don't think that would be fair to him. She also mentioned getting him a cart. I think that would just be a selfish way to keep him around, I know he would not be happy with that quality of life.

The blood work came back today, its not cancer. I guess that's good, but he's actually doing worse today. On Saturday I am going to take him for acupuncture, I will try anything at this point if it means he's not in pain and helps his hind end problems.

I have started to think of how to deal with the kids when Bosco does finally die. I know how hard its going to be on Eric and I, I'm not sure how to explain the whole thing to them. Hopefully we have time to figure it out.

Bosco has been such a huge part of our lives, a partner at work for the last 10 years. Hopefully he improves over the next few days. Off to K-9 training I go with no dog tonight....

Don't put your finger in there!

2007-11-05T22:11:00.000-05:00

Somehow David got his finger stuck in a plastic telescope. I have know idea why he would think it was a good idea to stick his finger in there. He came to me crying that he needed "slippery soap" to get the telescope off. Simple enough--well all the slippery soap in the world was not going to get that thing off of his finger.

I was ready to take him to the fire department, they have the jaws of life, surely they would have something to cut off a plastic telescope right? Of course Eric thought that was crazy, he said he would just cut it off. Well that scared David and excited Michael. Michael was already in the bathtub so we had to move ourselves into the bathroom so that Michael could watch. We had David close his eyes and then Eric started cutting. I was probably just as worried as David, but it came off pretty easy, Eric did a good job and did not cut David's finger off. Well, just to add a little drama, Michael starts shouting "there's blood". Meanwhile David has just opened his eyes and is scrambling to find the blood. I had to show them both that there was no blood, it was just a piece of red plastic on the washcloth. Not good enough for Michael, he insisted it was blood until I picked it off the washcloth and showed him.

Just another day at the Nelson's.

October Birthday's

2007-11-04T21:04:00.000-05:00

It used to be that Lisa, Jerry and I would celebrate our birthday's in October every year. Since mom and Jerry have moved to PA its been a little harder to do that. This year while Eric went on a guys weekend to NY to watch football, the boys and I went to PA. Lisa and the kids were also able to come.

We always have a good time together even if its just hanging out around the house. David, Michael and Nathan had a great time just being boy's. The 3 of them together is like a tornado! Brenna seems so mature to me, she's such a great helper especially when she watched the boys Sunday morning and I got to sleep in!

Grandma taught David & Michael how to play Old Maid. I don't know how many times we laughed at them when they would say "I don't want to get stuck by the Old Maid"

Thanks for a great weekend away.

Halloween

2007-10-31T10:47:00.000-04:00

Halloween started with a parade at Crofton Children's Centre. It was so cute seeing all of their classmates dressed up. They were all so proud of their costumes. I'm so thankfull that Eric and I are able to be a part of school events like this, I can't imagine missing it.

Halloween was so much fun. Michael was a cowboy riding a pony and David was a pirate. For a few days we talked about how to say "Trick or Treat" and then "Thank you and Happy Halloween". Well, on the 31st they came home from school with the saying "Trick or Treat, smell my feet"! Oh, the things they pick up--at least they forgot about it by the time we started trick or treating.

They could barely wait until it was dark to start. Johanna came to our house and I let the boys go to a few houses with her, then back to our house where the stage was set for Johanna to trick or treat our house. The boys told her to wait so that they could go inside because she had to knock on the door and say trick or treat--that's just how you do it! It was so funny, they took their jobs handing out candy very serious.

After that Tori was also ready to start trick or treating. We have gone with Tori, Slade and Wendy for the last 2 years. Slade and Wendy were really into the Halloween spirit, Wendy was Batwoman, Slade was Batman and Tori was Batgirl. They looked great (although I had to joke with Wendy saying she looked too sexy to trick or treat our neighborhood!) Great costumes!

This year we could not get away with just going around our cul de sac--it was a mad dash going from one house to the other. Usually with Tori leading the way with David hot on here heels, Michael brought up the rear--he was having a little trouble with his cowboy boots and horse legs. About halfway through we met up with Brandon (Spiderman), Bill and Tammie. It was a blast watching the kids have so much fun.

After we came home and the boys each had a few pieces of candy, the first thing David asked was "When is Christmas!?" My gosh, can't we just make it through Halloween?

Pumpkin Carving

2007-10-30T10:48:00.000-04:00

This year my goal was to do 4 pumpkins. Great idea since I'm still having problems from my car accident, but oh well, Halloween is only once a year. I picked a pirate ship, Michael picked a flying ghost, and David picked Goofy on a jack o lantern. By the time I was finished with these 3, it was getting dark and I could barely move, poor Eric didn't get a pumpkin carved for him.

Dog Trainers

2007-10-28T19:57:00.000-04:00

Both of the boys love to play as if they are training the dogs. It doesn't matter which dog, they just like to give them commands. Poor Blanca when I'm trying to work with her at finding mold or bed bugs its always a little noisy. She has to contend with 2 kids telling her to "seek" or David spinning the training wheel after she has found a hide. I figure if she can locate mold or bed bugs under these conditions we should be in really good shape.
The boys enjoyed seeing Chris and I on the news. Now instead of just being dog trainers, Michael has also turned into a news reporter. I had to crack up while I was working Blanca, from behind me I can hear Michael saying "here is Blanca, she's a rescue dog from Florida that can find mold and bed bugs". Of course the more I laughed, the more commentary I got, it was hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0W9rmBBllM

Crazy Week

2007-10-27T19:31:00.000-04:00

This has been a pretty crazy week. I feel like I just need to post something just to get caught up. Eric and T have been working like crazy on the house. The outside of the house is so close to being done! They even worked in the rain! We are still not decided on the next step--to start the rest of the project by breaking through to the new house or wait until spring. I keep going back and forth on what to do, guess we will have to figure it out sometime soon otherwise the weather will make the decision for us, it will be to cold to break through.
The boys had their pumpkin patch field trip on Wednesday. Of course we haven't had rain in forever, but it rained for their trip. They were able to go and had a great time. I think the highlight of the trip was getting to ride on the school bus.
I had a MRI on Thursday. The orthopedic doctor said that I show signs of "clonus" in my foot and said I needed an MRI right away. Of course I did my own research on clonus, I should not have done that. Just when I though I was really getting better my neck has been killing me this week.
With me working this week, Eric and T working on the house and then my neck hurting, the boys have been pretty much left to fend for themselves. (Well not really) They have watched so much TV this week. I think that today we are paying for it, the boys are so stir crazy. Hopefully we will get a lot of outside time on Sunday, we are hoping to go to homestead gardens for their fall festival activities.

Kids Birthday's

2007-10-20T19:40:00.000-04:00

The boys were invited to Sean and Jack's birthday parties today. They were so excited, its really the first birthday parties that they have been invited to outside of our circle of family and friends. I guess this is the beginning of school friends birthday parties. They had a blast at both parties. Between bobbing for apples at Sean's party and playing at Rolly Polies for Jack's party it was a fun filled and exhausting day.

Girls Scrapbooking Weekend

2007-10-14T19:29:00.000-04:00

This weekend, Rich took the triplets to his sisters house and Sharon, Claudia and I had the house to ourselves for a girls scrapbooking weekend. We had such a good time and really got a lot done. I can't wait to do it again sometime!

My Birthday

2007-10-07T22:24:00.000-04:00

Well, today I'm 38, yes I said it--38. Wow, where does time go? Seems like yesterday that I was 21, enjoying many a drink at the Fells Point Festival with Eric and Lisa. Today was most definitely not like my 21st birthday. Instead of getting crazy and drinking I don't know how many beers today was a little more relaxed. We all went out to lunch a my new favorite Mexican restaurant Mi Casita, they have great shrimp quesadillas. After lunch we went to Kinderfest at Watkins Park. I had no idea that Kinderfest was such a big deal. There were hundreds of people there. We all had a good time. The boys were able to play on moon bounces and then try their hand at carnival games where everyone won a prized (and the game only cost 50 cents!). Michael especially liked the pig races. I can't believe how hot it was at Kinderfest, there was not a lot of shade.
After Kinderfest, Eric was able to move our new playground to the backyard. Sounds easy right? Well it took 4 guys to carry the one main piece to the backyard. Its still not assembled, hopefully sometime this week.
The boys were able to play on the dune buggy that Alyssa gave them. Its pretty cool. They had to show great patience seeing how we got the dune buggy yesterday but the battery had to charge for 18 hours. They had so much fun riding on that so it doesn't seem to bother them that the playground is not set up yet.
Taras came over this morning and gave me a birthday card with a gift certificate to Benny Hanas. Wow! We talked about the house and the state we are in now. If we move forward with the addition, its going to be a rough couple of months. In order for the electrical, hvac, and plumbing to be done, we have to break through to the new house. It seems like such a mess, but I think we should just keep plugging along.
I don't know if Michael was joking when today he said that he and David were my birthday presents. I laughed at him and said of course you are, but reflecting on my life I know that even though times can be rough and the boys can be trying, they truly are gifts.

Girls Night Out

2007-10-05T10:52:00.000-04:00

Tonight I was leaving the house for a "girls night out". Well, my wild and crazy nights out usually consists of a glass of wine and some scrapbooking. I was meeting Sharon at Claudia's house for dinner. David was not too happy that I was going out--it didn't matter that we had spent the day with Sharon and the kids picking apples, broccoli, and spinach and then having a picnic lunch and playing at Sharon's! I told David that it was a girls night out for dinner and scrapbooking. He said it wasn't fair and that he needed dinner also. Michael on the other hand came over and gave me a huge hug, he said "mom, have a great girls night scrapbooking"
Dinner at Claudia's was great, she is an awesome cook. She made cannalonies (I'm sure I butchered that spelling) from scratch--yumm. I don't know how she does it, she's 5 months pregnant with twins and her son Cameron is 4. Cameron, David and Michael share a birthday. It was a really nice night, lots of food, wine and great very candid :) conversation. We are all looking forward to our weekend away together next weekend. Rich is taking the kids out of town so we will have Sharon's house to our selves for a scrapbooking slumber party weekend---I'm so excited. I think the highlight of the night for me was when Sharon and Claudia put candles in the brownies and sang happy birthday to me. I'm fortunate to have great friends.
Saturday morning I had to be up early because Eric and Taras were going to pick up a swing set that I had bought out of the Pennysaver for $100. I think I am as excited as the kids are. The first thing Michael says to me is "Mom how was your scrapbooking dinner work girls night out". How sweet is that! The next thing was, "when is dad going to get home with our swing set".

Oct. 4th Michael is the helping hand

2007-10-04T10:41:00.000-04:00

Today Michael was the helping hand. He was so proud of himself, and from what I hear he did a great job.
As a treat for the boys after school we took lunch and went to Sandy Point State Park. I was worried it might be chilly being right on the water--boy was I wrong. The boys were really excited to go to the "beach". When we got to the park, there were only maybe 4 other people on the beach. We took towels and sat down by the water. I figured the boys would just dig in the sand and maybe stick their toes in the water. I thought the water was pretty chilly, but that did not stop the boys. They were in up to their knees and loving it. Mind you we did not have bathing suits, just shorts and t-shirts.
A lady and her 4 year old daughter showed up and the boys immediately ran to the little girl and asked her to play. I was so proud of them, they played so well together. Well next thing you know, David has fallen in the water and is sitting down. He doesn't seem to care that we don't have a change of clothes. I end up just taking the shorts off hoping they will dry a little by the time we go home and letting him play in his underwear. Of course did I have my camera with me today--NO.

Oct. 3th David is the "Helping Hand"

2007-10-03T10:35:00.000-04:00

Today when I picked the boys up from school, Mrs. McClellan said she had some news for me. She told me that when the boys got to school in the morning, Michael noticed that David's name was written on the board to be the helping hand for that day. Michael was so excited, he told Mrs. McClellan that it must mean that on Tuesday it would be Michael's turn to be the helping hand!
Helping hand is a big deal to all of the kids. The helping hand gets to hold the flag for the pledge, they get to update the calendar and get to be the line leader. David was really proud of himself.

Sweet Boys

2007-09-22T00:16:00.000-04:00

Just had to tell everyone about Michael's dream. I just bought Michael and David Leap Pad's since they have such an interest in letters and the sounds they make. The day after they got the Leap Pad's, Michael tells me that he had a dream that they should give some of their toys away to other kids who don't have any toys! How sweet is that? I just might have to take him up on that.
Michael has a cold so he had to stay home while I took David to a My Gym playgroup. Michael was understandably sad when we left. I told Michael that we would bring him home a treat. We stopped at 7-11 to get Slurpee's, David said that since Michael was sick that he was the only one who needed a Slurpee to feel better, David said he didn't need a Slurpee. I told him he was very sweet to be looking out for his brother and for that he deserved a Slurpee also.
Connie, you should keep a listing of your real estate adventures on the blog. Someday when you are selling lots of houses it might be fun to look back at. I'm very proud of you for getting your license. Good luck with the open houses!

09-18-07

2007-09-18T18:53:00.000-04:00

Today after lunch I took the boys to Watkins Park. We were not there 5 minutes when Michael yells "Mommy" in this funny voice. I went to him and he was holding his hand out saying that "it bit me". Turns out he had just been stung by a bee! He cried for a couple of seconds and that was pretty much it. He says the bee bit him because "I taste good". I kept an eye on him to see if was going to have any reactions to the sting, his had got a little swollen, but was otherwise OK. 2 hours later on our way home, he cried the whole way home saying how bad it hurt, I think he was just really tired and that was a good excuse for complaining.
After we got home, David and I were drawing with chalk in the driveway. He drew a stick figure of himself. He was very proud of it. Its really the first drawing of his that actually looks like what he intended! Now he loves to practice writing letters, "D" is his favorite.

Beautiful Day

2007-09-17T00:06:00.000-04:00

Finally, I am caught up! What a great day today. Eric and our neighbor Slade went to a Raven's football game. The Raven's won and they had a great time. I met Sharon and the kids at her house for lunch, then we took all of the kids to a school to ride bikes in the parking lot. All of the kids had so much fun. It was a gorgeous day. There was a lot of bike swapping going on. Ben, David C. and Jessica wanted to ride David and Michael's tricycles and David and Michael wanted to ride the big bikes with training wheels. They rode and rode and rode and rode.
David fell off of his bike (for real) and when all of his friends rode over to make sure he was OK there was no turning back. David was on the ground every couple of minutes, all of the kids would pretend to be doctors, it was cracking us up. David C. was shouting "emergency, chapter 100", whatever that means. Of course then the other kids started pretend falling off their bikes. I think Michael would do it just to get a rest! One time Michael was on the ground, he had all of his "doctors" around him, David C. started with the "emergency, chapter 100" again, and David N. then gives his diagnosis---Michael has a "dirt shoe!"
It is so good to see the kids playing together. You get a real sense that they are all going to turn out to be really good people. I would see Ben getting off his Bike to give Jessica a push, kids swapping bikes with enthusiasm (in the beginning). They just seemed like really good kids.
After bike riding it was on to soccer camp (or mine and Sharon's version of it). We had the kids do relay races kicking the ball, they had a blast. Next was football camp. Now, soccer is really a little much for me--football forget it. I have no idea when it comes to football. My idea of getting them ready for a drill was to have them make a huddle, tell them what we were going to do and then we would all shout "ready - break". I'm sure it looked kind of silly, but we had fun. While I had the kids doing a drill, which included me tossing the ball to them, and them running around me to the back of the line, the rest of the kids in line would cheer on their teammate. It got to the point where when it was the next kid in line, they would say, "get ready to cheer me up". It was cracking me up. Michael loved the flag football portion, he was being chased for his flag when he tried to run to me laughing "Mommy, save me" We will see what happens when he someday plays football for real.
We finished up with more bike riding. All in all, those kids were non stop for about 3 hours. I was pooped out and I did not do a quarter of what they did. At least Sharon ran with Jessica during our football warm up! A funny thing during the bike riding, a strong gust of wind blew across the basketball court where the kids were riding. Poor David C. got caught in that gust. His feet were off the peddles and the peddles were just spinning like crazy because he was getting blown so fast. The poor kid had this look of terror on his face, he couldn't stop. Sharon turned around to try to save him and got wind and dirt in her eyes, I ended up grabbing him just as the wind died down as fast as it started. Sharon and I laughed so hard---I don't really think that David C. really thought it was as funny as we thought :)
On the way home, I asked the boys what was their favorite part of the day? They could not come up with just one part, they loved the whole day!

9/10/07 Car Accident

2007-09-16T23:52:00.000-04:00

On 9/10/07 the boys had their first day of preschool. (actually they missed their first week because we were in Williamsburg). They love school and were going to have the same teachers that they had in the 3 year old program, Mrs. McClellan and Ms. Joann. Eric and I both took them to school, took pictures and wished them a great day. Eric left for a dentist appointment and I went to the grocery store.
Around 10:30am I left to go to the scapbooking store before picking up the boys (they were having a sale!) Only a few blocks from my house I was in a car accident. I'm not going to go into details on the Internet, but a lady made a left turn in front of me taking away my right away. Immediately after the accident I started having trouble breathing, and my neck hurt. A witness stopped and was able to find my cell phone on the floor. I was able to call Eric, he was just leaving the dentist office. Poor Eric, evidently my call went something like "I've been in an accident, my neck is hurt and I can't really breathe....click" I don't remember hanging up on him, but I was a little out of it and I know I was shaking. Immediately after hanging up with him, poor Connie calls. I answer and just say I've been in an accident and will have to call you back.
Eric shows up (probably seconds later) as I'm being put into the ambulance. I make sure he has my camera and tell him to ask the firefighters about the car seats to see if they are OK. He is able to get a hold of his brother Bruce, Bruce shows up at the accident scene and is able to take the Jeep to school and pick up the kids. He just tells the kids that mom and dad are running a few errand--what do the kids care---they get to play with Uncle Bruce. Eric meets me at the hospital where I'm basically treated and released.
I finally call Connie back who has been frantic during this time. She has seen on the news where there has been a terrible accident in Annapolis involving a fatality. Luckily she is able to talk to Bruce, so she found Ok that I was not in that terrible accident.
I think I slept for 2 days with all the medicine I was on. The boys were great, they thought it was pretty cool that the van got to ride on a tow truck. We now have a rental van, they think that's pretty cool too.
I am still recovering, I seem to be getting better, but I'm sure it will take time.

9/2/07 Williamsburg Trip

2007-09-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

Overall, our Williamsburg trip was great. I love spending time with family and am so happy that the boys really do also. The highlight of our time there was of course the pool. I can't believe how good the boys are in the water. I don't let them see me go under water due to the fact that I have to hold my nose! I don't want them to get started doing that.
Mini golf was another hit. Michael gets a little frustrated, but only because he tries to do everything that Eric showed him to do. Because he tries to golf with correct form, it can be a little trying for a 4 year old. Michael would ask me if we could do a teamwork golf. Meaning that I would help him putt. We actually got a hole in one! Surprised all of us. David on the other hand could really care less about form. His objective was to just keep hitting the ball as fast as he could to make it to the next hole.
The Yankee Candle Factory was great. Eric and I were as excited as the boys to go there. We could not wait to see the look of excitement on their faces when the "hickory dickory doc house" opened up. I was able to wander and shop while Eric hung out with the boys taking it all in.
The kids had a good time making crafts for everyone. David remembered that a swan bit "Mom" and made her a swan fan. He also made a crayon fish for Great Dad. Michael made a crayon butterfly for Grandma and a "frustration" pencil for Granddad. They felt so proud handing out their gifts.
The hard part about Williamsburg was the fact that I had not seen my Grandmother in several months. I was really shocked at how she is doing. Even though I hear from Connie and mom about how she is doing, its still hard to see that its all true. I guess I just don't want to imagine that she is not doing great. I really miss our long conversations at the dining room table, they are some of my fondest memories with her. It just made me so sad that she is in bed for so much of the day. I still see her as the grandmother who gets around everywhere, who is the caretaker. She was always so independent. I hope that she gets strenght back so that she can get back to being her old self again. The hardest part was saying goodbye on the last day. I felt like I practically ran out of the condo. She was lying in bed and just seemed worn out. David was telling her that once we leave Williamsburg that he is really going to miss her. I did not want to break down in front of the kids, I don't think they could understand the sadness that I felt. Luckily Eric was able to keep them engrossed in conversation as we drove away and I cried. I cried for the grandmother that she used to be and the grandmother she is now. Eric tells me how lucky I am. Other than 1 grandmother, he never really knew all of his grandparents, much less his great grandparents. He is really happy that the boys are so close with all of our family. I sometimes feel sad that we did not have the boys earlier in life. I know that Eric is sorry that his Dad never knew the boys, he would have been such a proud grandfather. I am sorry that the boys probably won't know their great grand parents the way that Connie and I knew ours, we were lucky to have them with us for so long.
I am so thankful that we were able to be together in Williamsburg.

8-30-07 Dentist Appointment

2007-09-16T23:13:00.000-04:00

Boy, I have not been doing a good job of posting, but I will try harder. I want to go back a little bit and post a few highlights (or low lights depending on how you look at it). Hopefully a few post will bring me up to date. Thanks Connie for posting, I need to figure out how to put pictures in :)

On 8-30-07 the boys had their first dentist appointment. They were so excited to go! They were both awesome getting their teeth cleaned. I was by myself because Eric and T were going to try to get some work done at home. I did not think it would be a big deal until the dentist told me that Michael's front tooth needed to be removed as soon as possible. My heart just stopped. The dentist said that evidently Michael had some time bumped his tooth which caused blood supply to be cut off and essentially killing the tooth. There was a very large abscess in the tooth that had not yet ruptured, but could at any time and when it did rupture it would be very painful. It was all I could do to not cry in the dentist office. I asked what the pros were to keeping the tooth, there was only 1, cosmetic. The cons went on and on. The abscess was sitting on his permanent tooth, if left it could damage the adult tooth: the pain of the abscess when it ruptures; possible serious infection when it ruptured; plus many more. I was so numb walking out of the office. Of course it was lunch time and the dentist was taking a break. He advised me to tell Michael that he just had a sick tooth that the dentist needed to look at after lunch. He said not to make a big deal about it, that Michael would deal with it just fine.
I came home and had to explain all of this to Eric. Luckily T kept the boys busy playing PlayStation. I felt so guilty about Michael having to loose his tooth even though I know there is nothing that I could have done. I just hate to have anything happen to my baby. Eric was upset as well, but we did not really have a choice in the matter. Eric took Michael back to the dentist. He called me about 1/2 hour later saying that Michael did not make a sound during the extraction (nitrous, and Novocaine!) Michael was so excited to tell David that the lost a tooth and that the tooth fairy was going to come, plus the dentist loaded him up with a big goodie bag. I had to put on my happy face for Michael, although it broke my heart to see him with that gappy smile.
Michael put his tooth under his pillow and woke up at 6am to find a quarter under his pillow from the tooth fairy. He was just beside himself! David was upset that he did not have a sick tooth.
Luckily we have all moved on. Michael is totally fine with missing a tooth, David is no longer sad that he doesn't have a sick tooth, and my heart doesn't drop every time I see Michael smile. He's such a trooper!

Justus Soccer

2007-08-26T21:47:00.000-04:00

Justus had his 1st Scrimmage Saturday. He did good. So far he loves it, and gets upset when he doesn't make a goal. He is wearing the blue shirt. His game start in 2 weeks, so I will keep everyone posted. Wednesday will be his first day of school, he can't wait. I can't believe he's that old already. My little man. Love you guys

2007-08-26T21:34:00.000-04:00

They Grow up to fast. That is so true. My baby girl is starting high school tomorrow. She not nervous tonight, but I'm nervous. What can I say, I'm a mom. This picture was taken last week when we went to visit JoJo, Gary, Gary and Jess. Britt and Jess ran thought the corn field together. It was a great day, but of course it made us all miss the West York area. But life continues and we are were we are for a good reason. Love you all,

Memories!

2007-08-07T15:51:00.000-04:00

Today I was doing some cleaning and thinking of a time not so long ago that all my grandchildren were here at our house. What special cleaning job that gave me another opportunity to think of them? Cleaning the marks off the stairway wall! Don't get me wrong, I don't mind all the little scuff marks, that's easy to take care of. I just love having them all together or when ever I can spend time with any of them. I also think about them when we find a toy that was under a chair or something. It's such a shame that we all are separated by so many miles. Thank goodness for phones. We love to hear any little thing that is going on in their lives. It's wonderful that the kids really want to call and tell us what they've done.

Already we are looking forward to a vacation in Williamsburg, VA. It's a great gathering of family, I only wished we had more going with us. Maybe in the future we can arrange that.

Love to all!!!

School of fish

2007-08-06T18:28:00.000-04:00

We had a really fun day today. I took the boys to meet Sharon and Claudia and the kids at the pool. This pool was really nice, it had a beach entrance that went up to 3 feet and a "water factory" in the middle of it that poured water down. All of the kids had a great time, of course I did not have my camera--and what great pictures I would have had :(

Eric has had the boys in the big pool all this week. Michael especially likes to jump in and go underwater. I think Michael spends much of his time under the water. David has not taken the plunge to jump in by himself, nor does he really care about going under water. Well that all changed today. All of the kids were putting their heads underwater. It was so funny how they would imitate each other. David C. (Sharon's David), put his hand on his head, yelled and fell back into the water, going under. All of the boys started doing that, it actually started getting a little hairy, so many kids going under water at the same time, on a good day its a challenge to keep up with all of them. With 6 kids, it was like a school of fish. David N. would swim under the water with his goggles on and grab my feet. I was so impressed by all of them.

Sharon reminded me of something that we both did as kids. An underwater tea party. I had forgotten all about doing that! After hearing that, Michael and David C. would stand face to face and go under water at the same time and wave to each other, it was great.

Its days like this that I'm thankful for good friends. I think its pretty cool that my kids and Sharon's (and Lauren and Sybil's) have been together since they were babies. It makes the days easier when you have someone going through similar trials.

After the pool we went to the Bass Pro Shop. I had to get a shirt for Eric, we have a mold inspection scheduled for Wednesday that he is able to go to with Chris and I. Now we all have the same CSI shirts. The boys loves Bass Pro Shop. There was a rock climbing wall with older kids (10 and up) climbing on it. The wall goes pretty high. It was cheap entertainment as we waited for the shirt to be embroidered. The boys cheered on all of the kids.

Tomorrow we are going to go to Port Discovery Children's Museum in Baltimore. -- Stay tuned...

Boy My Life is Crazy!

2007-08-01T21:29:00.000-04:00

But, I guess I bring it on myself. Two 4 year olds, a new dog, a new business, T having open heart surgery, our roof half done, scrapbooking, Eric painting the family room....need I go on? I am tired now, and would just like to go to bed, but I wanted to post because I know tomorrow will be just as crazy.
The reward system seems to be hit or miss. They are both up to 8 pennies each. Michael insist he is saving for Rita's, David on the other hand wavered tonight on whether he wanted to "spend" his on treats. He finally decided to save which made me happy, it will be a nicer trip to Rita's if they both get to go. If they don't both get to go I feel bad for whoever stays home with the other one :(
The boys got to talk on the phone a bit tonight. David really wanted to call Grandma and Granddad to tell them he tried a taco at Taco Bell. On the way to the pool, David mentioned he wanted to try a taco, I figured strike while the iron is hot. He tried a bite of both a hard and soft taco, but was not crazy about them--at least he did not spit it out which is a major achievement. Then he decided he wanted to try my Taquito (chicken and cheese on a flour tortilla grilled), he loved it and ate all of my dinner. I wasn't complaining, I was thrilled!
Then they got to talk to Justus. They were so excited to hear that he swam under water, they talked about it till they went to bed. I am so glad that the boys love each other so much. I'm glad you guys live close enough that they boys can really grow up knowing each other.
Eric's painting is coming along--slowly but surely. T is healing and doing well. The roofer will be here Thursday and all of the doors and windows will be in YEAH!
Chris Tucker and I met with Audrey Lee today to help us with advertising. She has so many great ideas and is putting so much work into our business, I really feel we are on the verge of something really good. Its a lot of time invested by all of us, but its our business and we want it to be successful and something we can be proud of. We already have another mold inspection lined up for this Wednesday. The client we did an inspection for 2 weeks ago wants us to do their new town house before they move in. Guess we made the customer happy, can't do more than that!
Well, I'm going to go watch an episode of Big Brother (I love reality TV). The only problem is, is that I'm at least 4 episodes behind, thank goodness for TIVO.
Love you guys

Brittany visit to the doctors

2007-07-31T23:12:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Brittany had to go to the doctors to just get a shot, something that should just take 2 minutes. Not for us, 15. The nurse would ask her if she was ready and she would say yes, then jump to the side and yell NO NO Not Yet. This went on for several minutes. I tried to tell the nurse to just do it, but you can't put any thing past a 14 year old. She finally got it. I love the humour she brings to the day.

Rocky Gap

2007-07-31T23:05:00.000-04:00

Today we went to Rocky Gap, such a beautiful day for it. Brittany spend most of the time tiring to catch fish that swam by her and working on her tan, with her friend Amber. I love watching them together because they act like little kids. Justus finally swam under water. Ok, so he was actually crawling on the bottom, but he did have his head all the way under. It's a start. Justus made friends with every kid that came within 10 feet of him, but this time he didn't give everyone our life story. I love you all, and miss everyone.

Happiness and sorrow

2007-07-30T13:56:00.000-04:00

Today is our anniversary! Jerry and I have had many great years and are looking forward to many more. We have been blessed in so many ways, with each other and our families and friends. This man is the most wonderful, understanding, and caring person I have met, no one could ask for a better husband, or a better friend in live

Today is also a special day for me because my sister, Linda, went to be with our Lord just 2 years ago. She fought long and hard and is now at peace. She will always be in our hearts and prayers. I just want to say a special "Hi Sis, I miss you". But I don't want to be selfish because she is where she worked hard to get to, so someday we will be together again along with all our other loved ones.

Reward System

2007-07-29T23:08:00.000-04:00

I thought that I would fill you guys in on a reward system that Eric and I are trying to implement. We can't take the whining or the "I want Mommy to do it" anymore. We have come up with a system that if we ask the boys to do something (take off your shoes and socks and put them in your room for example) and they do it right away without whining or complaining then they will get a penny. They can save up their pennies for prizes. 3 pennies gets you a fruit roll up or some other candy type treat. 6 pennies gets you a match box car. 10 pennies gets you a trip to Rita's. (Michael says he's saving all of his pennies for Rita's.

This worked great the first time we asked the boys to take off their shoes and socks, put them in their room and then wash hands. David and Michael each got a penny. Later that night, getting ready for baths, I had taken off Michael's clothes and asked him to put them in the hamper--he threw the clothes down saying "No, you do it". I then calmly asked David to take his clothes to the hamper, he scooped them up, ran down the hall, put them in the hamper, ran back saying what a good helper he was. This earned him a penny. When Michael saw that, he immediately scooped up his clothes ran them to the hamper, ran back and asked for his penny. I told him that he did not earn a penny because of his behavior. He was devastated, you would have thought I told him he would have to skip Christmas. He cried and cried until finally of course I felt terrible. I did not give in and told him that maybe tomorrow he could have better behavior and earn more pennies.

Then of course it seemed like things had calmed down until the boys were getting ready for bed and David asked if we were going to Rita's in their PJ's? He just figured I would give him the rest of the pennies and then we would go. Guess they are going to finally learn the meaning of patience by having to earn something. Stay tuned to see if it works!

Things Michael says

2007-07-29T23:01:00.000-04:00

This will probably be a steady topic of mine. Michael is always coming up with something that shocks us, makes us laugh, or makes us think. On Saturday we were all going to an FOP Cookout. I turned on a "Junie B Jones" CD for the boys hoping that Eric and I could have a few minutes of much needed conversation. Out of know where Michael says "Mommy, maybe when I'm bigger I can go to Kinko's with Mr. Chris". Well, this just floored us. Eric and I talked about Chris and I going to Kinko's probably 2 weeks ago. Of course we had no idea that Michael heard or cared about our conversation. Chris and I had been to Kinko's to purchase business cards and letterhead for our company.

Eric says he envisions Michael's brain like a merry go round. There are all of these ideas going round and round in his head. You just never know when the merry go round is going to stop and one of his thoughts is going to get off.

This is great!

2007-07-29T13:57:00.000-04:00

I will try to add a post although our lives are pretty boring compared to the both of you. At least it will give me some good reading and it's great to have it all in black and white so that we never forget the smallest things of life.

Love to all,
Mother

Just wanted to let you know I recieved this

2007-07-29T12:03:00.000-04:00

Hi, this is different, but I think it's great idea. I will try to post daily, it's should be fun. I love you guys and just want to let you know I got this message.
Connie

First post

2007-07-29T00:45:00.000-04:00

Well, this is my first attempt at creating a blog. I talk so much with my mom and sister on the phone, but I thought it might be fun for us to have a place to permanently put our thoughts, feelings and funny things that have happened during the day. We each lead such busy lives, I thought it would be neat to be able to share with each other in this format.

My thinking is that we can each try to post something daily. It could just be a one liner with something funny that happened, or a way to express your feelings. Lets give it a try.

Love you guys,
Beth