Drug Movie Winners

Melissa's 6th grade Challenge class entered a contest put on by the city. It was for students to produce a movie about drug use. They worked hard on it & the final project was amazing. I am always in awe when my children do a project on the computer--they know so much about technology & do such a great job. The class found out they were in the final 3 & were asked to go to a city council meeting to find out the winner. They won the contest & were awarded $500 to use how they wanted for the school. They were all so excited & I was very proud of the research they did & the way they worked together.

Pottery Painting

We decided to take the girls down to a cute little pottery shop & let them do some fun painting. They each got to pick out their own piece & then they got started on picking out colors. They had so much fun. They put so much thought into what piece they wanted & what colors to use. It was fun for Jake & I to watch each one of them--I had a hard time keeping my hands off Brooklyn's bowl. I'm too much of a perfectionist & had a hard time letting her do it all by herself. Jake is much better at letting the kids do things on their own. They all enjoyed being there & seemed to have a great time.

The Leprechaun is so sneaky!!

My girls experienced the little leprechaun coming to our house for the first time today. I talked to them last night about how he might come. They wondered why he had never come before & I explained that he is so small that he can't make it to everyone's house, like Santa. They went to bed & were very excited about what might happen during the night. They were so surprised when they woke up. That sneaky little leprechaun had gone into their rooms & pulled clothes out of their dressers & thrown them on the floor. He then put a "Happy St. Pats Day" sign in front of their door that blocked them from getting out of their rooms. As they walked downstairs, they noticed green paper grass all over the place. The kitchen area was crazy..stools were laying all over the floor or on the counters. Their milk turned green, too. They were excited to see that the leprechaun had left a rainbow hanging from one of the pendant lights & a "pot of gold" was at the bottom of the rainbow--actually Rolos. They had a lot of fun seeing what crazy things had happened--they are already hoping he comes again next year. We'll just have to wait & see.
I took pictures of what happened, but I used our new camera & I'm not sure what happened to them. Maybe that leprechaun did something to my camera, too. =)

Don't let it get you down

Life has been really interesting lately. Every time I turn on the news (TV or radio), I feel myself getting heated up & sometimes even boiling. All the worry about the financial scares start to make me nervous & then I feel panicky about what's really going to happen. I've realized that all that I am hearing may or may not happen, but I can't let it pull me down. I have a family to take care of & we need to make our own choices based on what we feel is best for our family. Yes, we can be affected by other's choices & in ways that the bills are passed, but I can't do anything about that. I need to focus on raising my children in a positive environment & teach them to make good choices. If I am brought down by all the negativity then I am doing them a disservice. I want my children to realize that they can be successful in life in more ways than one & they can't rely on others to make that happen. I am going to work hard to not let the news effect me & focus on what's most important in my life--my family.

Latest Happenings

There hasn't been much going on to capture on camera, but my life hasn't seemed to slow down. I guess just the everyday things to do keep life busy. The past few weeks I've just tried to get back on a good schedule with working out, housecleaning, kids activities, church calling & keeping track of Jake's schedule. Time is flying by so fast. I can't believe it's March already. Before I know it, it'll be Spring Break, then our big birthday month (3 birthdays in 10 days) then the last month of school. YEAH!!
Melissa-she has been enjoying middle school. Her Challenge class did a video for a district contest on drugs. We watched it last night & they did an amazing job. She has been working hard on learning some violin songs & performed them today at Festival. She earned her Faith in God award & is really looking forward to Young Woman's this summer.
Brittany-she is fighting being sick right now. She was sick last month & has been hit hard again. She has already missed 6 days of school this semester from being sick. This is not normal for Brittany. She continues to love piano & is very disciplined. She is up every morning practicing before she goes to school--without being asked!
Nicole-she, too, has been sick a lot lately. She & Brittany have had different symptoms, but seem to be sick at the same time. She has perked up alot this afternoon so she is hoping to go to her friend's bday party tomorrow.
Allie-she just got signed up for preschool for next fall & is so excited. She is so ready for kindergarten but misses the cut-off date by 17 days. I have never had my kids in preschool before, but I felt because of how ready she is for school & not going for another year then I gave in & signed her up. She is going to a great class & the teacher is so fun. We are both really excited.
Brooklyn-she continues to amaze us. She is so adorable & I love having conversations with her. She has an incredible vocabulary & talks about all sorts of topics. She is definitely my baby & I love her hugs!
Jake-he is incredibly busy with his new office. He has a list forever long of things to do, but he is very dedicated & hard-working & continues to cross things off & get more organized. He spends many hours & long days at his office so we miss having him around, but we know it will pay off. He will have an open house the end of this month & hope that will bring in even more people as patients.
I have been sick the past 2 weeks, but I think I am finally seeing the end of it. I am so ready for Spring so we can open windows & let fresh air into our home. I am getting ready to plant flowers in my pots so we can have some color outside, too. I love spring--warmer weather, birds chirping, sunny skies, beautiful colors, things coming back to life. It's so refreshing!
We all just continue to plug along & enjoy the good things in life.

Valentine's Day at our favorite place

Jake & I spent Valentine's Day in our favorite place--his new office. We took over all the things we've been collecting for the last few months & put together furniture, set out decorations & cleaned. It was so nice to see it come together after all these months. I love to see the decor make it more warm & welcoming.
We started around 4PM, packed up our cars & headed over with our kids. We had hoped they would watch a movie while we worked, but that didn't last very long. After an hour, I took the kids home, got them settled, packed up the car again & went back to the office. We worked for a couple more hours & then went out for a bite to eat. We went back & cleaned things up good--the dirt just seems to be in the air. We've had it cleaned twice already, but the floors & counters were still grimy. The construction workers have some odds & ends laying around so we piled stuff in boxes so it looked ready for business & not like a construction zone still. We finished around 10PM & just are so happy with how it's turned out. I am so proud of Jake!!
Here's some photos of Jake's office. There are still some things to do (like hang photos, mirrors & clocks--marble for the desk in the consultation room--computers/tvs still to be hooked up--), but these are the ones I have for now to show off. I took them at night so the pictures came out darker than how it really looks. I'll post more when the office is more complete. Click on the photos to see a bigger view.








Waiting Area in his office. There is a wall fountain that still needs to go on the wall by the tree.









Reception Area


















The main bathroom--I love glass tiles!





Supply Room--still empty. We need those boxes!!










Hallways to the operatories



Sterilization Room (Lab at the end)

IT'S THE BIG DAY!!

Tomorrow is the first day for Jake's office to be open. It has been a crazy week & not everything has fallen into place. The office is so close to being done--lots of little odds & ends and landscaping left. Nothing that would hold back Jake from doing dentistry. However, it would be nice if the UPS truck would deliver his supplies!! Jake & his staff were there Friday at 8AM ready & waiting for the UPS man to show up. The hours ticked by & they finally called to see when it would arrive. They couldn't get through to who they needed to talk to & left messages. At about 2PM, the truck pulled up next door, so his front desk gal, Jenny, ran out there & talked to the guy. He told her he came at 9:20 & 9:40, but there were only construction trucks there so he thought no one was there to take the boxes. Are you kidding me? He didn't even walk into the building & check. Jake finally got a hold of someone on the phone locally & they would not agree to send the boxes back to his office. The boxes are in a trailer surrounded by other boxes so he'd have to wait until Monday. Hello...that's when he is opening his office for business. It didn't matter how much Jake pushed they wouldn't budge. So, his patients have been moved back to the afternoon & they are keeping their fingers crossed that the truck will show up first thing in the morning so they can unload 40 boxes, unpack, sterilize & set up before the first patient arrives. It will be a hectic day, but it's ok. This is what we've worked towards.