Feedom Isn't FREE

I got an unexpected email from our former landlord yesterday and the subject just read, "B... is okay." I hadn't seen the news, so I had no idea that there had been a crash involving his squadron.

For more details, you can read the news story about this sad event.

It just reinforces a couple of things to me: first of all, freedom isn't FREE. We owe our freedom to the many men and women who make it their life's work to ensure our freedom and safety. There are 5 families now who are grieving for their lost loved one, and as a nation, we should grieve with them--those people worked for us too. We owe them a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. Second, we never know when we walk out the door if we'll get to return again. It makes me want to make sure to hug and kiss my family members good-bye and cherish the time I have with them a little bit more. Because life is uncertain. We need to make the most of the time we DO have, so that we have no regrets.

Besides, what are we waiting for? Let's live life to the fullest every day!

Another quick week......

I just don't know where all of the time goes! Last week zipped by possibly even quicker than the week before.

Hannah and Toph are finishing up the school year. The final count down is on, and I am actually excited to welcome summer vacation. I think we're all ready to be done with rigid routines and have some free time. We want to go to the Science Museum!!! We want to go swimming. We want to go to the beach. We want to just be lazy at home. We want to visit with our friends. We have a serious case of spring fever.

This week was the much-awaited Daddy/Daughter Dance on Wednesday and the Mother/Son dance on Thursday. Our school does this each year, and the kids love it! This was Hannah's first time, and she was so funny. On Wednesdays, school has early dismissal, and we almost always go to the park to play. We played at the park for about 90 minutes, and then we went to a friend's house to swim for another 90 minutes. Then the kids came home, showered, and Hannah went to the dance. Anyone who knows Hannah knows how much she LOVES music and dancing, and she was very excited to go dance with Daddy. Imagine my surprise when she returned home after just 45 minutes! The girl was POOPED. She apparently didn't stop moving the whole time they were there, and her style of dance could be described as "aerobic." Dancing following swimming and playing--she slept good!

Toph and I went for our tun on Thursday. He could not wait! He'd made plans to meet certain friends at certain places, and he wanted to be early, so he wouldn't miss a thing. We beat most of his friends there. Toph is a very considerate date. He danced with me right away for 3-4 songs, and then he wanted to look for his friends. So he brought me some punch and then let me talk to some other Moms while he ran wild for a few minutes. Then he checked back to make sure I was having a fun time. He thought we should dance again, so we did, and then I went back outside and talked with our former landlord. It was nice to have a conversation in person instead of email--and it was much cooler outside. Then Toph came back and wanted to make sure I was having a good time. We danced some more, and I thought we might be able to go home. No such luck. More dancing--the chicken dance, the hokey pokey, and the macarena. I did not attempt the cha cha slide--or whatever it's called. More talking to friends, and Toph got to lead "the train." After that we danced another slow song, and the dance was over! We'd been there the whole time, and we'd had a lot of fun. Toph was so considerate of me the whole time--it makes me just burst with pride.

A bit of an uneventful happening--we developed a leak in the kitchen. I came home on Wednesday and found water on the floor. I mopped it up (thinking it was a melted ice cube), and later that night, I found the floor wet again. Under our kitchen sink was leaking from somewhere. I got to wait for the plumber on Thursday. Fun times! I was very glad that the school was having a fund raiser at Islands and that I could talk Robert into going. After 2 days of not doing the dishes, I wasn't looking forward to the washing and then the cooking......

Saturday I had a great day! I'm sleeping better right now, and I'm breathing better this week. I got to go clothes shopping and out to lunch with a good friend and then we went on a movie date in the evening. Our husbands saw Star Trek and we saw Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. It was a really nice day. Then the Gibbs came over this afternoon and we watched Benjamin Button (liked the movie, but not the ending) and we had dinner together. All in all it was a very nice weekend! To make it even better, Mother Nature cooperated too. We were supposed to have a heat wave and be in the mid 90's all weekend. Didn't quite make it, and the evenings have been great! When I watched the news tonight it said that Fresno was 106 today--ouch! And I'm having to close windows because it's getting too chilly!

Have I mentioned how much I love living here? :-)

Next week is a busy one. Lots of things going on, and I'm putting the kids on another routine. Doing homework after free time just isn't working. I'm changing it up again, and I'm NOT going to be popular around here. Oh well. It's not my job to be popular. I hope the kids appreciate that when they're older and have kids of their own!

Hannah--antics of the past (I hope!)

A blog buddy FB'd about her daughter cutting her hair. I saw the pictures, and it's sad, but not HORRIBLE. I can beat it.

Our beautiful Hannah has cut her hair, not once, but TWICE! The first time she had help--in the form of an older brother. They did an amazing job, but it was drastic. Look at the photos:

Before:

After:





Then, last year, Hannah did it AGAIN! They say lightening doesn't strike twice in the same spot, but "they" don't know our Hannah. It was the day before her tonsils were coming out, and she was watching a movie on the computer. Toph was home from school, really sick, and I was SO tired from being up all night with him that I was napping on the couch. Toph got up and announced that Hannah had cut her hair. I was TOTALLY unprepared for the sight that greeted me:





There's not much you can do to "fix" that. Here's how we "fixed" it:





Here's what she looked like just 2 months before, as she was pigging out on her birthday cupcakes:



Now, Hair grows back. It's one of the things we can count on. This is Hannah about a year after the devastation:

But this was traumatic for my baby, because a LOT of people asked her if she was a boy--or just referred to her as a boy. She started school and kids in her class asked her if she was a boy. She DID have a boy hair cut, in their defense. I'm REALLY hoping that the trauma of that will help Hannah to decide to leave the hair cutting to the professionals! I don't know if I can live through lightening striking the same place THREE times!

Runaway Train......

Sometimes I feel like I'm on a runaway train. Time goes so quickly and there's so much going on. That's what this week has been like.

Toph had a performance Monday night with his class. Monday I spent the day working on a banner for Teacher Appreciation week (hopefully I'll have the photo to share soon). By the time we got home at 8, sent the kids to bed, and Robert and I finally had dinner, I was DONE! And let's not even go into the fact that I'd had 2 1/2 hours of sleep (maybe).

Tuesday I devoted to finishing my cards for card swap. In the past we've met on Thursday, so I thought I was doing good on time. Not so much since we were meeting on Tuesday. I finished with 30 minutes to spare, and I had a good time swapping cards. Although I had fun, my asthma started to trigger at card swap. I thought it was because the host has pets that I might be allergic to, but after getting home and a rocky night, I decided it might be more.

Wednesday I started running a fever--GREAT! Because I don't have enough going on. Our van had brakes that REALLY needed servicing, so I spent a great deal of time in the car. Robert and I took it in to the shop, I dropped Robert off at work, the kids and I went to the shop to pay the bill and get the key, and then we picked Robert up at work and collected the van. WHEW! I skipped cub scouts, and I'm glad I did. As the day wore on, I kept feeling worse and worse. As long as I was doing NOTHING, life was manageable. But I was short of breath if I was exerting any energy. NOT good! With piggy flu going around, and with this asthma episode accompanied with a fever, I decided that seeing the doctor might be a good idea. The good news: last night I actually SLEPT! Didn't have consecutive hours, but I slept for about 7!!!

Today I called the doctor early, and got probably the last available appointment, "could you be here in 15 minutes?" Luckily, Robert was still home. I left him to pack the kids up for school and prayed for green lights. The doctor I saw wasn't concerned about piggy flu, and diagnosed a simple upper respiratory infection with asthma. I learned that I'd lost 8 lbs! And then he prescribed Prednisone. Oh well, you can't have it all! I'm disappointed because I HATE Prednisone, but breathing IS important. I don't know what set me off, but this round of asthma feels "different" than before, and that got me to the doctor's office faster than I might have gone otherwise. I've also got an antibiotic, so I should be feeling better very soon.

Tomorrow is a BUSY day! It's teacher appreciation week this week, and my contribution to Toph's class is to bring in lunch to the teacher. I previously purchased my tableware and decorations, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fulfill my promise, but I will! I'm excited to be doing that. I also get to attend the Q and U Wedding in Kindergarten. It's for Mother's day. The girls are the Q's and the boys are the U's and the program is super secret, but supposed to be just adorable. I can't wait!

Then we'll be very ready for the weekend and a little down time. Hopefully my honey and I will go on a DATE on Saturday, to celebrate Mother's Day.

But really, the runaway train needs to SLOW DOWN!!!