Kamdyn's 2nd Grade End of Year Play

Well, wouldn't you know that after Karcie was feeling all better that Kamdyn would wake up with a fever on the morning of her end of year program.  I just KNEW that she had strep, too.  Kamdyn freaked out because she DID NOT want to miss her play.  She had one of the main parts.  I frantically called the doctor and got an appointment just after they opened.  Guess what? No strep!!  I couldn't believe it.  We were told to wait it out.  Not only was her program important, but we were leaving to go out of town the next day.  I had to have my kids well!!  I dosed her up on Tylenol and took her to her program just a few minutes before it started.  I snapped some photos of her and her sweet friends!  She was so happy that she got to go.  And, she did great!  I'm going to try to find some "Little Theatre" plays that she can try out for and maybe be a supporting character to see if she would like to pursue this little acting thing.  She really enjoys these plays and gets in to them.....not nervous at all!!

I'm so sad that 2nd Grade has ended.  Makes me want to cry.  My baby is growing up.  Not only that, but she is growing up to be such a beautiful and thoughtful little girl.  I couldn't be prouder!!

We sure will miss Mrs. Sidney!

Nanny comes to Town!

Nanny came to town to go to Kamdyn's 2nd Grade end of the year play.  She arrived on the night of Richard's birthday.  Pop Pop's brother, Marion, stayed with him so Nanny could visit for a night.  While Richard was busy celebrating in Greenwood with his family, we were doing some celebrating of our own.  We enjoyed dinner and margaritas at the Mexican restaurant.  The girls were tickled to have Nanny visit.  It had been five months since any of us had seen her.....the longest I had EVER gone without seeing her .  We sure do love Nanny!!

N

Happy Birthday to Richard

I haven't cut the grass in YEARS!!  Richard loves to tell the story of how I attempted to cut the grass in our first house.  I made it down one strip and left the lawnmower in the front yard.  The grass was simply too thick and this ain't no self propelled mower, people!!

Anywho, since he has been traveling all week, I decided that I would try to take on another task so he didn't have to worry about it when he got home on the weekends.  I started that mower all by myself and off I went.  I did miss one tiny section by the mailbox the first time, but went back and got it the next day.  I was pretty proud of myself, but I was also VERY hot and sweaty, which I did not like.  At. All.

I had Kamdyn take my photo when I was finished so that I could text it to Richard.  It was his Early Happy Birthday present.

We love you sweetie and are so thankful for you!!

Playing Golf One Day.....Sick the Next

I am WAY behind on this blog.  Somehow as I attempt to catch up, these posts are going to make me sad.  I will think of what my Daddy was doing as we were here carrying on with our lives.  I don't really have regrets because how could I have known what was to come?  But, I do wish I had packed everyone up to see him every second that I could have.  If only I had known.....

Karcie was playing outside with the neighbors one day.  She was having a ball hitting golf balls with Mr. Brian.

Within 24 hours she was running a fever without any other symptoms and watching out the window as her friends played outside.

Her fever started out as low grade and eventually creeped it's way up to 103 by 9:00 PM.

This was the last reading that I got under her arm....I've always heard to add a degree under the arm.  I started to panic.  I ran next door to my wonderful neighbors house to see what they thought I should do.  Richard was out-of-town.  They helped me find an after hours clinic that was open until 10:00 PM.  I loaded my baby up in to the car and Colleen and Brian offered to keep Kamdyn for me.  They are such awesome people, friends, and neighbors!  We found out that she had strep throat, but only after thinking that she had hand, foot, and mouth.  I was happier with the strep verdict.  We stopped by the drive through at Wal-Greens at 10:30 PM.  She got a dose of meds in her and was almost feeling up to her usual self by morning.

Hanging out in the bed with Mommy.

Doesn't everyone with strep throat hula hoop the morning after?

This girl was feeling better in no time which made this Mama happy.  I can't stand to see my babies sick.  It simply breaks my heart and I panic.  I am a worrier!  What can I say?

Firetruck Tent

Reading is always more fun when inside a firetruck tent!  Karcie hung out in her firetruck tent while waiting on me to take a shower.  I came out to find her "reading" to her baby!  Her imagination is so fun.  She informed me that she was the mommy and I was the big sister.  She uses a key from her Dora backpack to start her firetruck. I love watching her play!

Caught you!!

See my baby!

Pool Time with My Tiny Girl!

Karcie and I have really been soaking up the sun and pool in the afternoons after Jazzercise.  We take our lunch up there and hang out until it's time for Karcie's nap.  Sometimes we even go back when big sister gets home from school!  We sure are glad that our neighborhood has a pool!!

Happy Father's Day to Pop Pop

My Mom mailed some photos to me not long ago of me and my Daddy.  He's been sick for 8 long years.  Between lung cancer, COPD, dementia, heart issues, etc., he just can't catch a break.  It's been hardest on my Mom as she has dealt with the day to day daunting task of seeing that his needs are met.  Tons of doctors appointments, numerous hospitals stays, and daily care take up most of her time.  And, she still works full time.  

I've gone through all of the emotions of this sickness....denial, anger, grief for both of my Mom and Dad, and I think I am finally starting to get to the acceptance phase.  Let's face it, seeing anyone suffer is hard.  But seeing someone you love suffer is AWFUL!  It's sometimes hard to separate the sickness from the person.  You forget how things used to be.  

The photos that my Mom sent helped me to remember all of the fun times that I had with my Daddy. Most everyone knows me to be a "Mama's Girl," (and I am) but when I was little, I was a "Daddy's girl!"  My Daddy always worked hard for our family.  We went on week long family vacations every single year of my life that I can remember.  He was a good Daddy!  He was always at any event I was in.....the never ending dance recitals, piano recitals, football games when I cheered, basketball games, etc.  He used to work out of town a lot and would even drive home from places as far away at Tennessee to see me play basketball to turn around and drive back.  

Although things haven't turned out at all as I had hoped, I am thankful for him, his love, and the person that he helped me to become.  I am glad that my girls know him despite the fact that he has been sick since they were born.

As I watch this sickness take over his life, I thank God for the memories that I do have.

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day at Jordan Lake on Saturday.  Richard loves being out on the water especially on nice days that have 0% chance of thunderstorms.  The girls loved swimming in the water and hanging out on the shore.  We grilled hot dogs and enjoyed time with our favorite Daddy!  

We are so lucky to have him.  He makes us laugh everyday and keeps us on our toes.  Life is truly an adventure with him and we wouldn't want it any other way!

On Sunday, Kamdyn brought Richard breakfast in bed.....complete with a Nature Valley granola bar, peanut butter, and a big glass of water.  Yep, that's what he eats every morning for breakfast!  Then, he opened his card and gifts.  He got some new white t-shirts for his Aiken adventure.  Mama can't be washing clothes all weekend long so Daddy has underwear and t-shirts on Mondays.  He also got a new pair of flip flops.

Happy Father's Day to one of the GREATEST!!  We are so thankful for YOU!!

Jazzercise

I love Jazzercise!  It is no secret.  Just this past week, Jazzercise had a promotion going on.  It was free to try a class and if you signed up, the joining fee was free.  If we brought in friends AND got them to sign up, we were entered into a raffle to win a bag full of Jazzercise instructor favorites.  We also won this cute little shirt that I have on in the photo.  I ended up having three friends try a class AND join!!  Yay for me!!  I'm still waiting to hear if I won the bag with the instructor favorites, but at last check, my name was the only name in the basket for bringing friends.  They also had a Facebook promotion where we had to take a photo of ourselves at Jazzercise and then post it to Jazzercise of Apex's FB page.  See my photo below with my cute little Jazzer-baby!

I do love that Jazzercise is a great one hour total body workout to the best music on the Top 40 charts!  I also like that my girls get to see how important staying healthy and physically fit is.  Being a good example is the best way to teach them!  I know there are other great workouts out there, but this one is best for me.  Half of the "getting fit" battle is finding a workout that you love.  The other half is actually sticking to it!  8 years and counting.  I can't wait to go back tomorrow!

Karcie looks thrilled doesn't she?

Amen, sista!!  I'm always telling everyone about Jazzercise.

While Daddy's Away.....

We got news that Richard would be traveling to Aiken for five months!!  YES, FIVE MONTHS!!  I can't believe it either.  He packs up and heads to Aiken Monday through Thursday while I play single Mom for the week.  Didn't we just move from there????  All I can say about this unfortunate set-up is thank GOODNESS that I don't work.  I don't think I could survive if I did.  That being said, we have enjoyed some fun girly time.  We've declared Wednesday nights as the night that we rotate among neighborhood houses for dinner when other Dad's are out-of-town or working late.  That has been super fun!  We've had ice cream sundaes (more than once!) with sprinkles, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, chocolate chips, etc.  We've painted little fingers and toes.  And while it hasn't been all smiles and giggles the entire time, it hasn't been horrible either.  We will make it through this season and we will be thankful that GSK trusts Richard with complicated projects.  They just better hope that in FIVE months that he is back in NC!!  :)  We have almost completed week #3.  Only 17 LONG more weeks to go.

Time with Neighbors

We've spent a lot of time here lately with our sweet neighbors.  As soon as we walk outside, Karcie thinks that she needs to go next door to see if Miss Colleen and Campbell are outside!  We've spent time on the porch eating snacks.  We've played with sidewalk paint.  We've enjoyed Popsicles.  We've had family dinners together when the Daddy's were out-of-town and/or working late.  We've also had a pizza dinner at the pool with the Daddys included.  I'm certainly glad that we found this neighborhood.  I had a great feeling about it as soon as we "discovered" it in November of 2012. Yay for the Kirk Family!!

Campbell, Declan, and Karcie

Um, Karcie!  It's called sidewalk paint, not Karcie paint!

Nothing goes better with a Popsicle than an Olaf shirt!

Karcie, Campbell, and  Landon....I think Campbell was scared to death to be sandwiched in between these wild three-year-olds!!  

Kamdyn was stuck hanging out with the boys!

Bradey and Cade....they weren't too keen on having their photo taken.

Pizza night at the pool with Karcie, Kamdyn, Declan, and Campbell. Cade was still swimming!

Fun Friday

Karcie got to spend the entire day alone with Mommy and Daddy a few Fridays ago while Kamdyn was in school.  We drove up to Kerr Lake to check on the lake house and to meet the septic and well peeps there.  The foundation was nearly complete when we arrived.  It was a beautiful day!  Our neighbors at the lake have been very nice to us.  The lady who owns the house has a sweet granddaughter who is almost Karcie's age. They let us use the bathroom at their house. We had a snack and enjoyed some lake porch sitting.  Then, the two girls had some fun playing in the sand down by the lake on the neighbors property while we waited on Richard.  A house construction zone isn't really conducive to a wild little three-year-old.  Karcie and Avery had a great time and got along surprisingly well!  Our house is coming along, but will not be ready for July 4th as we had hoped.  It's looking more like the end of July.  We simply cannot wait to enjoy our own lake porch sitting!

When we left, we stopped for burgers at Hwy 55. Karcie loved that her kids meal was delivered inside of a truck that she got to decorate with stickers!!

Hip Hip Hooray for spending the day with Mommy and Daddy.  I'm sure she couldn't wait to get home and see Kamdyn!!

Foundation

Avery and Karcie

Yummy chicken!!

See You Later Alligator

Karcie's last day of 2K was last Wednesday.  They had an end of year program and family picnic.  Again, I was sad because it was just me who could attend.  I checked Kamdyn out of school for a couple of hours so Karcie wouldn't be the ONLY kid without an entourage of family.  :(  Still, she only had two.  Oh well!  I'm sure that it didn't bother her in the least.  She didn't even notice, I'm sure.

She sang her little heart out despite the burning hot sun that was shining down on those sweet little kiddos.  She did yell out one time, "I'm sweating!!"

Miss Kelly was such an awesome and patient first teacher for our Karcie.  She desperately needed the socialization in a small, structured setting.  Kelly is so soft spoken.  Karcie loved everything about being there.  I am forever grateful for wonderful teachers like Miss Kelly and Miss Jenn.  

Here we come 3K!!  Can't wait to see how great Apex Baptist is for Karcie girl.

"Look, there is Mommy and Sissy!"

Where is your picture, Karcie?

"Five little Monkeys swinging from a tree.  Teasing Mr. Alligator, you can't catch me.!"

Hands UP!!

Karcie getting her award and treat bucket.

Miss Kelly and Miss JEnn

Yay, Karcie!  We are so proud of you!

Karcie giving Miss Kelly her monogrammed beach towel and gift card!

Karcie giving Miss Jenn her monogrammed beach towel and gift card!

Picnic time!!  I sure do love these sweet angels of mine!!