Bits & Pieces

Can you believe October is half over?

I'm a bit excited because the end of October signifies some fun stuff for us.  Not only do I get to eat all my kid's Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but I've been promised that Halloween is when the weather starts staying perfectly perfect.  Oh yea, and it's when my family starts rolling into Arizona for the Winter!  I may be scheming ways to be with them every day without wearing out my welcome.

Anyways, we are headed to the state fair today and I'm planning to do a lot of eating.  So while I go find my stretchy pants, here some bits and pieces of life from this past week.

It's been gorgeous here.

Last week we had one day in the high 90's, but since then it's been high 80's to low 90's with no humidity and a wonderful breeze.  Not quite the Fall of our past, but I've been able to leave the air off and the windows open so I'll take it.  It's funny how fast we all forgot the grossness of Arizona Summer once it went away.

Let us commence the next 7 months living outside.

josie's jeans and long sleeves are totally unnecessary.  it's cooling off, but not that much.

Need a good devotional?

I bought this one after reading "Give Them Grace" and it's a great one.  We have been reading one of the stories and questions during breakfast each day.  It's quick and to the point and perfect for young elementary kids.  Gabe answers every question with random facts about football, but God's word never comes back void, so I guess he's still getting something out of it, amiright?!

School and sensory tubs and doors open and clown suits. 

These are a few of my favorite things.

Fall is for baking.

This day it was whole wheat pancakes.  With chocolate chips.  Because life is about balance.  Last night I ordered a whole wheat bun on my bacon cheeseburger and the server audibly laughed at my refusal of a white bun.  Listen dude, I get it but it makes me feel better so lay off.

I want to be a mom that encourages her children to play music.

Really I do.  But this thing is loud.  Maybe lessons outside the home are more my speed.

Gabe had his first appointment with his new cardiologist yesterday.

I hate change and this office did things a bit different.  Nothing major, just little things like putting the EKG stickers in different spots.  I'm sure that has no bearing on the results, but it made me miss our old doctors.

Most of my nitpicking ended pretty fast when a big, beautiful 100 popped up on the pulse ox monitor.  I know a lot of you don't get what that means to us, but before Gabe's last heart surgery, he never, ever, ever hit about 86 on his Oxygen levels.  So a full, normal 100 was exciting!  The Fontan is working!

The ECHO showed that his heart function (his heart has always had trouble fully squeezing with each pump) is improving.  That was also pretty exciting.  This new cardiologist was awesome about explaining things to me.  He had me sit right next to him as he looked over the ECHO shots and showed me what everything was we were looking at.  I've been a Heart Mom for 4 years now and I've never understood what's going on in his heart as much as I do now.  I'm thinking this doctor is going to be good for us.

We celebrated with Subway.  I keep trying to convince him to step up his game when I say we can eat wherever he wants, but Subway is his jam.

The only hiccup in our appointment was that Gabe still has a Junctional Rhythm.

In extreme layman's terms, that means the electric waves in his heart don't follow the path they are supposed to which can lead to some yucky stuff, including the need for a pacemaker.  We learned he had this a couple of years ago, but it was minor enough that no action was needed.  Our new doctor doesn't feel like it's any reason for concern, but wanted to get a good baseline reading so he sent us home with a 24 hour Holter Monitor.

Basically, he hooked Gabe up to a mobile EKG machine and handed him a cell phone that transmits the data back to a monitoring service.  As you can see, Gabe is pretty stoked about his new phone.

sometimes i look at my phone like this too.

We did this when Gabe was 2 (minus the cell phone) and I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did not messing with the wires and transmitters, but was skeptical about how it would go this go round.  But he's doing awesome.  He's pretty proud of it and checks his phone for "twext massages" on the regular.  He even wore it at t-ball last night.

I'm expecting the results to be perfectly fine and we will resume life as usual.

Time to head to the fair!  

Have a good Wednesday friends!

That's A Wrap

I've been a little MIA around here. 

Life has been busy and my focus all over the place. Both made it difficult to form cohesive thoughts. But things are settling down for the moment, due in huge part to school being D-O-N-E!

At the end of last week, I pulled out all the work Josie had to finish before we called it a wrap.  Girlfriend buckled down and did some serious school over the long weekend.  She took her last math test on Monday and when she aced it, I told her she was officially done with 1st grade!

Que the loud cheers!

This is our first year that we are taking an actual Summer break. 

I went back and forth on it since school is such a big part of our daily life, but at the end of the day there's just no way to keep any kind of schedule while moving across the country. I'm sure we will still fill our down time with activities that are technically school, but my lesson planner is blank from now until August. 

I'm excited to fill our last few weeks in Georgia with all things Southern. Well, except sweet tea. I'm more than OK leaving that behind. 

In other news:

We eased into Summer last week with a pool day at Andrew's Mom's house. There's nothing that signifies summer more than babies in goggles that smell like sunscreen.

We discovered a bird's nest in a flower pot on the back porch.  There are four tiny eggs in there.  We are watching closely for the babies to come out.  It's pretty exciting.

First blackberries of the season!  Between the three of us, none will actually make it into the house.

Josie had her ballet recital last weekend.  I love watching her dance.  And seriously, could she be any more precious?

Well, that about catches us up.

Hopefully I can keep my thoughts straight and be around more!

Documented - 5/17

Life This Week:

We are in the calm before the storm around here.

We reached a point where we can't really pack anything else up so we are just on hold.  Andrew heads out very soon, but not soon enough that I feel the clock counting down.  I'm so excited to be out in Arizona, but somewhat dreading the steps that stand between now and then.  One day at a time, right?

Trying to orchestrate this cross country move is taking up the majority of my brain power.  I spend most of my free moments playing out different scenarios.  I haven't felt like writing much, which is a weird feeling for me.  When I'm feeling a bit off kilter like this, I like to plan out every detail of life that is within my ability.  So this was the perfect week for my Erin Condren Life Planner to be delivered!

If you create an account HERE, they send you a $10 coupon!

Teacher books are 25% off this month too!

Eep!  I'm in love with it.  I just ordered a teacher planner too and can't wait to get my hands on it.

I also had my first court experience (outside of adopting the kids, which is technically done in chambers).  I got my very first speeding ticket a few weeks ago and my license was expired to boot.  I had to go to court for the charge.  I won't lie, I was totally scared.  I escaped with a $300 fine, hard to swallow, but better than the $1000 I had been told it would cost.

So overall, this has been a good week, but strange.

School This Week:

We are in the home stretch people!

Like, for real.  If all goes according to plan, we will tie first grade up with a pretty bow this May 30th.  Josie is doing great and is super excited to finally be in second grade.  I couldn't be any more proud of all she accomplished this year.

On fridays Josie writes a letter.  She gets to pick who she writes to.  I guess she ran out of people and has moved on to more abstract recipients.

Now that this year is pretty much done, I couldn't help myself from starting to layout next year.  All I can say is second grade seems to be when the material starts building on itself and we are going to have one heck of a fun year.

Seriously, planning is my favorite!

Gabe is loving Mother Goose Time for preschool.

I am so happy that we found this program.  It takes care of all the planning for me and let's me focus on just teaching him.  My favorite is how much Josie can do to help.  She's been reading him the books and helping him with all the alphabet work.  She's a pretty great assistant.

This is the first year in forever that we aren't doing a big garden.  We did plant a few things, but not enough to warrant a garden theme for school.  I did breakdown and do our seeds in the jar.  The kids are observing how long it takes to sprout.  Again, Josie is taking the lead on this experiment.

Hmm.  Maybe I should be concerned about my job security?

Going & Seeing

I had book club Monday and we cooked out with the Mabrey's on Tuesday.  I got a little teary thinking how that was likely our last cookout until one of us visits the other.  My dreaded court date was Thursday and that night Josie had her Girl Scouts Award Night.  Josie got badges for selling over 150 boxes of cookies!  She was so excited.  Before the awards, they toured the fire station.

Documented - 5/10

Life This Week:

This week's theme was Resume Normal Life.

Gabe came home on Tuesday night and we jumped back into our planned activities the next day.  He's doing really well.  I've never been so happy to see a kid inhale his food.

We have packed up a lot of what we don't use in preparation for our big move.

It's a bit tricky since we don't actually know when the kids and I are headed out.  We do know Andrew leaves in a couple weeks so we are trying to get the bigger stuff where it needs to be before then.  He will fly back the week that we leave to finish the packing.  So basically, I'll be solo parenting and solo packing for the majority of the move.  Sounds super fun.

School This Week:

I shouldn't have bragged about how on track we were to finish school at the end of May.

Gabe's hospital stay threw us off, but I've decided that is no big deal.  So we may go a little longer than I wanted to?  Who cares?  My new plan is to double up where we can and just finish into June with anything we don't fit in.  I'm praying hard that our house sells in May, so that will make the rest of the year wonky anyways.

doubling up on school equals doubling up on caffeine.

We picked out a few new books at the library.

I'm trying hard to spark an interest in reading without pushing it.  It isn't something she will choose to do, but I'm hoping if we find the right kind of book she will start to enjoy it.  She can read, so I'm feeling good there.  Now it's about helping her find joy in it.

Gabe has been asking for more to do during Josie's school.

Which worked out awesome since I just got our first month of Mother Goose Time delivered!  I'm super excited about this pre-planned preschool curriculum.  It's very well put together and saves me so much time.  We did our first two days this week and I think we've found a winner!  I'll post a full review soon.

they sent us double crafts which pretty much made josie's whole world.

Going & Seeing:

Once we were outside the hospital walls, we had a couple really fun days.

First, we hit up The Rock Ranch for a field trip to learn about pond ecosystems.  We've gone to one other field trip there and they do an excellent job.  The kids got to spend some time at the pond doing some hands on learning, play with some worms at the compost lesson, and got to see a great illustration of food webs.

I sure am going to miss this group of homeschool buddies when we move.

Then Josie had her last day of Farm Fusion on Wednesday.

I can't say enough awesome things about Holly and her program.  Not only did Josie learn a lot about agriculture and get to do some great crafts, she blossomed under Holly's encouragement.  Josie is very social, but she's a follower.  She doesn't like to get up in front of her peers and share her work without knowing it's exactly like theirs.  This class really helped her come out of her shell and write about what she wanted to.  She went from not wanting to share to getting up and reading her own work.  I'm so grateful that we found Ms. Holly.  She's another thing I will truly miss.

Documented - 5/4

Life This Week:

We are getting ready to sell the house and move across the country and Gabe is back in the hospital.

Need I say more?

look out Emma!  you might end up in a box on the way to Arizona!

We have been spending most of our free time cleaning out closets and drawers.  I think of myself as an organized person, but turns out that is only because I have big closets.  We have SO much stuff.  It's crazy.  We are downsizing significantly, which means we have got to purge a lot of stuff.  I'm enjoying the process, but it takes a lot of time (and trash bags).  Multiple trips to Good Will and the consignment store.

man of many talents

Andrew was on vacation until Thursday so we got to enjoy a lot of time with each other.  This vacation felt super long.  He came to Arizona, went on a guy's trip to Florida, and still had a few days at home.

three weeks til her big recital.  everyone is getting extra practice.

School This Week:

One month left people!  One month!

The past couple months haven't been very consistent, but after some serious planning, we will finish at the end of May.  This is the first year we are taking a real Summer break.  I had changed my mind about it, but since we will (hopefully) be moving in July, it just makes more sense to break.  She will be joining an enrichment school in Mesa at the start of August so June and July will be our main off time.

learning about frogs this week (find the observation book here)

Scratch that.  This was written before Gabe went into the hospital.  But we should still be done at the start of June.

we had to end our family game nights because Josie would lose her mind if she lost.  she has finally decided it's not the end of the world so we have resumed one of my favorite post dinner events.

Going & Seeing:

On Tuesday, I snuck away with my best girls to finish planning out our school year.  We spent a couple hours planning at Starbucks and then hit up Waffle House for a late dinner (yes, it's still light out.  Eating at 8 is late to me!).  It was so awesome.  I love these ladies.

While I was out with them, Andrew took the kids to climb Panola Mountain.

They had such a great time.  Love when they get to hang out together.

We also have been trying to fit in some Atlanta things before we move.  We hit the Atlanta Beltline this week.  The weather wasn't the best and Gabe wasn't feeling so great, so we didn't last long.  I'm excited for the bike trails in Scottsdale to be in our backyard.

Josie also had Farm Fusion.  Only one week left and the year will be over!  Crazy.

And in case you didn't hear, we spent the last part of the week in the hospital.

Gabe developed a nasty pleural effusion and his stats dropped fast.  You can read about it here, but basically he got a chest tube put in and dumped over a liter of fluid in just a couple hours.  We spent the weekend recovering in the hospital.

While we were at the hospital, Josie got to spend the weekend at the lake with her best friend Olivia.  She had a great time (pssss, post some pictures Amber!).

I'm hoping for a very uneventful week.

PSA:

My favorite planner is currently on sale for $20.  AND if you click the link below and create an account, they will email you a $10 off coupon.  So you can get the Life Planner for $10!  Maybe it's just me, but that's super exciting!  They are so pretty.  Mine is in the mail and I'm dying to get my hands on it!

Click HERE for your coupon