Sweet Sister

The other day I woke up with Jetty cuddled up next to me and Ella not in her usual spot on the other side of me. Doug had left for work early in the morning and I assumed that she would be cuddled up next to Rose on the couch. Instead I found her working hard on an art project on the dining room table. It was a surprise for Jetty and she did it all by herself with the stickers leftover from the hospital. Very thoughtful my sweet little girl.

Poor Jetty...

Jetty had her tonsils and adenoids removed a week ago tomorrow. It has been rough. We are all lacking in sleep and last night her pain got even worse. I am hoping for a better night soon.

Long time away...

I never expected to be away from blogland for this long. School happened, summer happened, sick children happened. I am happy to be back and with lots of new things going on in our life.
Jetty started a new school after spring break. The public school wasn't working out for us and it was sad because I really wanted to support the public school system. In the end I gave it a year and a half and I knew it wasn't the right thing for our family. We are lucky enough to have a charter school just outside of town. We decided to give it a try and I had it set in my mind that if it didn't work we were going to homeschool. Well, I am happy to say that the charter school has been wonderful and a very different experience then the public school.
I was also offered the job of art teacher for the school at the end of the school year. I wasn't planning on returning to work but I do miss teaching and love the idea of being at my child's school. Since I haven't taught in 6 years I had to take two college courses to renew my teaching certificate. I was a little overwhelmed with two 14 week online courses condensed to 6 weeks. That is one reason I haven't even wanted to open up my laptop. I needed a break from the computer and all technology. We have been spending lots of family time traveling and on the water. It has been a great summer.
I am happy to say that all my requirements are behind me and I will only be teaching two days a week which is ideal for my family and I am so excited to be in the classroom once again.

Little Garden

I am LOVING our earth boxes right now. The girls have been wanting a veggie garden but we have a very shaded back yard. The one place we have lots of sun is the large tiled patio out back. I have tried potted plants there but it is too hot in the summer for traditional style pots(especially when I forget to water for a day or two). Well, last summer I was introduced by my friend Janine to these wonderful pots she sells at her nursery. They are amazing and I swear you can watch the plants grow right in front of you. I have pictures of the girls getting the soil mixture ready for planting but for some reason I didn't get a picture of the baby plants. They were the small veggie plants that come in the little pots. Compare that to the plants 3 weeks after we planted them. My squash and zucchini have over 30 blossoms on each plant. I can't wait to get a couple more pots.

Warm Sunshine

So glad to have some warm weather after this cold wet winter. Island hopping on the boat is so much fun.

Happy Easter

We have had a wonderful spring break... visiting wonderful friends, ice skating, boating, and lots of loving. The girls and I decided to dye our Easter eggs with natural dyes(ex. beets,turmeric,blueberries,etc.). It was a fun science experiment and the girls even wrote predictions in their journals but the result was not very exciting. I decided that whoever dyed the eggs I saw online must have slipped in some food dye. It was still fun and the girls just wanted to add some more colors with q-tips which helped a bit.

Looking forward to spending lots of time with family tomorrow and finding lots of eggs.

Teeth

I never remember being so excited to loose a tooth as Jetty. This is what Jetty's mouth is looking like these days. I think we might need to start saving up for braces.

Lucky and Sneaky

We tried and tried but Lucky and Sneaky got away again. Note to self...when the girls ask to start putting out the trap a week before St. Patty's day remember cleaning up little leprechaun foot prints for a week:)

A Very Important Project

The latest important project... Here's a clue .

Another Birthday

This winter my baby turned 4. My sweet little velcro baby started preschool two mornings a week and only shed a few tears which made me so proud. She is quite the little Daddy's girl and still likes to sleep holding my hand. So sweet.

A Cold Winter

It has been a cold winter with even some snow. Okay, it was more like sleet then snow but the girls loved every minute of playing in the cold mixture. It has been nice having more of a season in Florida but I am ready for the warmer weather and heading back to the beach. The unseasonably cold weather has been rough on the vegetation. We are waiting to see what plants come back when the weather warms and we are looking forward to growing some vegetables. Warm sun, sandy toes, and fresh veggies...it will be a good spring.

Brrrrr

It has been record breaking cold in Florida this last week and they say there might even be snow flurries tonight or tomorrow morning. Floridians in general are pretty wimpy about the cold and I am sure Northerners would crack up with all our winter gear and constant talk about how cold it is outside. I enjoy the heat and I am even contemplating joining a gym for the rest of winter. I had no motivation to walk or ride my bike this week with the wind chill in the teens and twenties. It warmed up to the forties today so I was able to get a little exercise before the next cold front comes in the afternoon. Doug, on the other hand, enjoys the cold and easily rides his 4 hours and only complains about cold toes. I hope everyone had a great holiday. Ours was a wonderful time spent with lots of family and friends.

Chopped

We don't have the TV on much during the day at our house. There is one show I DVR and the girls will watch with me once in a blue moon and that is "Chopped". Any tv that I watch is after the girls go to bed. The other day I was working in my studio and the girls were playing with play-doh. I heard Ella say "step away from your plate and see who will be chopped". I looked up and Jetty had three lids lined up with her pretend food. Anyone who has seen the show could appreciate the cuteness. I looked at the girls and suggested we go inside and play "chopped" with real food. It was so much fun and the girls got such a kick out of playing. Just an FYI, we didn't chop anyone:) I gave them a bag with salad, crispy rice noodles, honey and a banana. Jetty made these cute little precise plates and Ella made two different plates(because she is my little rebel)and one featured a lovely cheese and honey sandwich. They both ate everything up.

The Fair

The girls have been talking about "it" for a year and it finally arrived. The fair was in town and we had a blast. Some things might look similar to here. We did think enough to put Ella's cowgirl boots on her to make her a little taller. She just made the height to ride the kid's rides. Thank goodness because she had such a great time being able to ride with Jet.

Wiped Out

Jetty has not been herself since the Flu. She is just wiped out. I am wondering if she is having a relapse of Mono? The other day when I was in the studio Doug took a photo of her after she fell asleep in this small box. Poor little thing. As for her tests...the MRI needs to be redone in a year or two to see if there are any changes in some lesions on the white matter. They aren't concerned and it is something that people with migranes usually have on their scans. Now we need to re-do the bloodwork again and see if she still has a positive ANA and we have started a headache journal to try to find her triggers.

My Super Heroes

Jetty finally decided that she wanted to be a Super Recycle Girl for Halloween. Ella also loved this idea and the "Super Recycle Girls" were born. What a difference a year makes in the excitement of Halloween. Little timid Ella was so excited to dress-up (she has always refused)and walked up to the houses like such a big girl. The costumes were so much fun to make with the help of this etsy video. Their boots, belts, and bracelets were all sewn with fused plastic bags. So much fun to do!

This is the 4th year we have been lucky enough to trick or treat with a group friends. There was about 15 families and it was so much fun. One of the houses had an old dog who looked like Hudson. Ella walked right in their house and past the man handing out candy. Doug called to her from the doorway as he watched her walk straight to the dog and pet him as he laid on the floor. She told us she wanted to pet the dog to remember Hudson. It brings tears to my eyes. She is such a sweet little animal lover.

The Flu and Should I be Concerned...

We have been stuck in the house for the week with the flu. Jetty was diagnosed last Saturday and started Tamiflu but they are now treating her for pneumonia(we are still waiting for x-ray results). She is doing much better with no fever in two days but she is so tired. She fell asleep last night at 5 woke up for dinner and fell back to sleep until 8 this morning. Doug came down with it a few days ago but is now starting to feel better. I had a sore throat so I started taking Tamiflu and it hasn't gotten any worse. Ella seems to have the best immune system of any little kid because she is still hanging in healthy. Hopefully we will be all back to normal next week but I am so grateful it wasn't any worse.

On another note...this is written on the utility pole that faces our house. Why would you write "I love the man on the bike?". Should I be concerned? HaHA

A little about Jetty and Ella

Ella says "I Love You" about 10 times a day with such meaning it is so wonderful. It is often completely out of the blue but always the perfect time.

Jetty wants to be a "Trachea" for Halloween. I love how my girl thinks outside the box but a trachea....really? When I said to her I wasn't sure if I could make that costume she said "okay,how about a cup or an ottoman."

Time flies

There is really no excuse for my lack of posting. Well, my computer is slow as molasses and I really try to avoid getting on it as much as possible. I am saving my pennies for a newer model so the girls can use this "clunker".

Jetty has had some tests in the last two weeks and so far so good. The tests are for daily headaches she has been having for months and because of her +ANA they really needed to check her blood vessels. There was a little something on the MRI/mra that requires another test on her nerves that she will be getting this week. Poor little thing had to be sedated for the MRI and MRA which was an experience. Eight hours later we were at home and she would stand up, make a funny comment and fall on her face. The neurologist says if the nerve test is fine we just need to re-do the MRI in 2 years to check the area again. It is most likely a condition that shows up when you have Migraines. Now we are trying to find her triggers for the Migraines. She is really a trooper and never complains about anything. I feel like we have had so many Dr. appts lately but I feel like we are getting closer to an answer. We re-do her bloodwork in another month and I am hoping that a third time is the charm and all her levels will be in the normal range.

Puppy Love

Jetty started first grade and she is loving being back at school. Ella and I miss her and for the first time Ella has been asking to go to school. The other day we visited a preschool down the road to sign Ella up for next years VPK program. Now when we are out walking Ella will insist we walk by her school. It is really cute and everyone who knows Ella knows what a big step this is and how much she has come out of her shell. She has also started reading! Out of he blue she will tell us what some words are and she is even trying to sound them out. Kids are so amazing!

As for the puppy...have I mentioned that she is a little extra work? She gained 21 pounds in a month(she is now 41 pounds and almost 5 months old)and is sweet as ever. She did just eat my prescription glasses which I am not real happy about at the moment. The first thing the girls said to me was "Mama, you should have put them away." Do you think they have heard that often from me lately?