ABCs of Me

Saw this on several other blogs and thought it would be fun as I usually blog about my kids and family!

Here's ME:

Age: 38

Bed size: King

Chore you hate: folding laundry (thankfully hubby does ALL laundry)

Dad's Name: John

Essential start your day item: COFFEE

Favorite actor(s): Matthew McCounaghey (SP?), Sean Connery

Gold or Silver: White Gold

Height: ooo, do I have to admit it? 4'11"

Instruments you play(ed): Clarinet, piano (minimal)

Job title: Mommy Taxi Driver, Family Nurse, Family Historian (AKA scrapbooker), Card Maker, Teacher . . .all the other things a Stay at home Mom is!

Kid(s): Chase, Mackenzie & step children

Living arrangements: own a home in Chelan, WA and live with my hubby, Dave and my two kids Chase and Mackenzie and two dogs - Lillie (maltese) and Amos (Yorkie)

Mom's name: Dorothy

Nicknames: Minkie (hubby), Mom, Honey - pretty much anything but my name

Overnight hospital stay other than birth: neck surgery, hysterectomy

Pet peeves: ungratefulness

Quotes you like: Put on Your Big Girl Panties and Deal With It

Rightie or Leftie: Rightie

Siblings: Melissa

Time you wake up: 6:30 if kids let me sleep till alarm goes off

Umbrella: of course (hate to get wet and chilled to the bone)

Vegetable you dislike: lettuce

Ways you run late:Getting kids out the door with all that they need, waiting for others

X-rays you've had: neck, sinuses, back, ankle, chest

Yummy food you make: berry tapioca salad, macaroni salad, cinnamon rolls, chicken roll ups

Zodiac: Pisces

Good Read

First let me begin by saying I LOVE my birthday present - a Kindle 2! I have read more since I got it than in the past 3 years put together. It is so nice and portable. Runs a long time on a charge and I can have several books going at once on it. I know there is a lot of negative media right now about Jon & Kate Gosselin and the Octomom but the first book I read on my Kindle 2 was Multiple Blessings by Kate Gosselin. What a great read and a great look at the human spirit and the good that people all around us have to share. If you have not read it, I highly recommend it. It is uplifting while still real and also shows the love and protective nature of a mother.

Sometimes I feel it is so much nicer to read a good take on life than to get caught up in the negative publicity that our media-hyped world can produce. I love my kindle and just yesterday I got this great travel bag for it that holds the kindle and the charging cord from BorsaBella.com

A good thought!

This was posted on Stacy Julian's blog today and it was so compelling and hit at the heart of me that I had to post it and am committing to live by it for a day in May and then I will post my experiences on June 1st. Please read and contemplate joining me.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Hope everyone had a great Cinco de Mayo. Chase came home very excited to tell me about why we call it Cinco de Mayo and carrying a Mexico flag they made at school. It was a windy afternoon so we huddled in at home instead of the park as we had hoped to do.

This little sign was at a local coffee hangout I hit once in a while right before picking up Chase (obviously I did so today) and I liked the sentiment so will share it with you today.

Nurse Kenzie

It seems that as I get farther from my nurse on the job experience, my 4 year old daughter gets more proficient at helping me "do it right". I (or maybe I should say we) have to change his dressing every morning and when it is time, she is right there to help! If I don't do it EXACTLY like I did the day before she gets upset and fixes it for me. She feels that I am not qualified to provide proper care to her Daddy without her supervision and advice. Thanks Nurse Kenzie for all your guidance (I could do it so much more quickly without you - BUT I wouldn't have the memories like this).

Busy Week

the kids enjoyed snuggles with Daddy while camping last weekend before his surgery




This was one of those weeks when I feel I should just sleep in the car - it truly would save time and much needed energy.



Dave had his left knee replacement surgery on Tuesday in Wenatchee so I ran kids to school in the AM and raced home to pick them up in the PM on Wed as my parents graciously helped on Tuesday (surgery day) and on Thursday (to bring them to visit Daddy after school) and on Friday (when he got to come home). I put a lot of miles on my little car and it feels like as many on my little feet. Thanks to Mom and Dad and to Jill who helped a lot with Mackenzie this week. I couldn't have done it without you all. The good news is that he is healing well and all looks much better than on any of the three replacements in the last 5 years on the right side. With any luck, he will be up and around and better than before by the time the kids get out of school.



The kids were so very happy to have him home - as am I! They are being very helpful in taking care of our patient (almost to the point of nuisance).



Well, I am headed off to bed soon as Dave had a lot of nightmares last night and was yelling in his sleep which woke me several times and led to me eventually in a stuperous sleep to grab a magazine and swap it across the bed at him as if to swat a fly - seems harse but it worked for the rest of the night (if that is what you call the hours of 3:30 - 6:30 am).



Good night all and may the Lord bless and keep you all safe.