The Attack of the Itis-es and a Spelling Bee

The first itis (eye-tis):

I went to the doctor, the first once since my health insurance kicked in. For the first time in nearly 10 years, I have insurance. So to the doctor I went- the first of many appointments I need to make for the various doctors I would like to see. This doctor- the podiatrist. For a while now I have been dealing with pain in my right foot. A while, I'd say like a year or two. I've tried not to complain and pretty much sucked it up. However, being on my feet for 12 hour shifts 3 times a week has been aggravating it something fierce. I've been icing it, taking prescription strength advil, etc., etc. and it has not been helping. So I went to the doctor.

A while ago, I had done my research, and I had figured I had Plantar Fasciitis. Now that I was actually going to the doctor, I was terrified of hearing that I have this because really what can I do? Resting? Not possible. The far extreme of surgery? Can't happen either, so I was really feeling hopeless that if I did indeed have plantar fasciitis, I would be stuck like chuck.

So what does he say?

Plantar Fasciitis.

Great.

He gives me a cortisone shot in the heel and recommends some shoe inserts with good support and then tells me to come back in 2 weeks. No resting or anything like that. The shot is supposed to start working in 2-3 days. So far, I don't really feel much difference and today has been day 3. I work tomorrow, so we'll see when the day is through how things feel. I hope better. I've read good things online about the shoe inserts I have, so I hope that holds true as well.

As for the second itis:

I have laryngitis. I am not sick. I do not feel badly. I just screamed my head off at the kid's school's basketball game Friday night and then more screaming at Grace's soccer game Saturday. Sunday morning I woke up with no voice. Sigh. I hope I have enough voice to talk to my patients/coworkers tomorrow.

Lastly, I wanted to announce to the world how proud of Nate I am! He won the school's kindergarten spelling bee today! There were 4 kindergarten classes who each had their own spelling bee within the class. Then they picked the top 10 people from each class and entered them in the spelling bee. There were 40 kids there today and Nate won first place!! How awesome! I am so proud :)

Reflecting.....

on 2011.

A lot of changes. Our family left our old school after MANY years once the school year was through. A lot of changes at that school since last December, too. I graduated from college. Kids started a new school. I started an ER Nurse training program. We lost a grandmother. We gained a niece. Another college graduate. A sister moved to yet ANOTHER island. Another sister moved to the Pacific Northwest. A brother off to Afghanistan. The kids started soccer. Grace joined Brownies (girl scouts). Ray and I got health insurance (ok, well that technically is in 2012, but it was like 1 second after 2011, so, there). We got a puppy. Ok, so that didn't really happen.

There will be a lot of changes in 2012, too.

I look back a year ago and look at where I am now. Last year, I had just completed the hardest nursing course of my entire program, the course where consistently 30% of the class fails. Every. Single. Term. I was so relieved to know I was moving forward towards graduation. It was hard to believe it was so close. Now here I am about to begin my job in the ER. Next year, I will be amazed at all that I know, laughing at how silly I was for being nervous.

I see my kids- how far they've come. Just over the summer, Nate has blossomed with reading and math. Grace has grown so much, too. I wonder where we'll be in a year.

While I wish time stood still, or slowed down, I do look forward to what tomorrow brings.

Good-bye, 2011. Hello, 2012. Happy New Year, everyone.

Nate Turns 6

Where did the time go? I'm not exactly sure, but I really wish real life had a "slow" button. I'm not exactly ready for my youngest child to be 6. It doesn't seem that it was really 6 years ago that he was born.

But it was, none-the-less. And since it is his birthday, and he is indeed 6, I want to take this time to give my not-so-little peanut a little shout out.

Nate- not a day has gone by that you haven't brought sunshine to our lives. I love you from here to the moon, to outer space and back a million times. We love you and are so blessed to have you as a son. Happy 6th Birthday, Peanut!

3 months old

1 year old

remember the hair?

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

5 1/2 years old

almost 6!

Coldplay

Coldplay is hands down my favorite musical artist. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to concert ever since I saw one of their European concerts on TV once when Grace was a baby. The concert was soooo good it made me want to go, and usually I'm not really interested in concerts.

Anyway, I've been looking to see if they had any concert dates any time soon. I recently looked a week or two ago, and there were no US tour dates on the schedule. I wondered if they'd ever come back to the US. Then the other night, I saw a commercial for a presale that started today! I quickly looked online and sure enough there were US tour dates added. So today, we bought tickets to a Coldplay concert! I haven't been to a concert in over 10 years! I am so excited! I cannot wait.

The downside?

The concert is June 29th! A little over 6 months away. Oh well, I can wait. At least they're coming to America. :)

Speak To The Devil

The other day Ray had said the phrase, "Speak of the devil" while he and I were talking, and Nate wondered what that meant. So Ray explained it to him.

Today, we hear Nate try to explain to Grace what "Speak to the devil" means using the same explanation for "Speak of the devil."

We obviously corrected, after laughing of course.

Gotta love kids! I'm sure going to miss days like these when they're gone.

Unconcentrate

Nate: (quietly thinking about something)

Daddy: "Hey, Nate."

Nate: "Wait, Daddy. You made me unconcentrate."

So cute. I will certainly miss these days where my kids say the funniest things.

-

So Proud

of both my kiddos.

Like I mentioned previously, Grace was chosen to be on the math team at school. Well Nate is now going to first grade for math. Basically, he stays with his kindergarten class for everything else, but during math time he goes to the first grace classroom. He and another boy from his class are really good at math and they go together.

Not only that, but the math classes are split up into a slower paced, regular paced and faster paced groups within each grade level. Nate and his classmate are in the regular paced group. I had just assumed it was slower paced since they were coming from Kindergarten.

Ray and I feel so blessed and confident that we made the right decision when switching schools. The kids have been given such wonderful opportunities so far. Grace went on her very first field trip EVER this week!

But anyway, back to the topic of my blog......I am proud of my little math whizzes.

Wow

I think I am the world's ABSOLUTE worst blogger. Ever.

Usually I post a blog on Grace's and Nate's birthdays, at the very least, and I didn't do that for Grace this year. It is a month and a half after and I am finally posting a blog.

Better late than never.

This year Grace turned 9. It is her very last year in single digits. I canNOT believe its been sooooo long. Time goes by WAY too fast. I don't know if it's normal or not to be sad about your kids getting older, but I am. Whenever I think about it, it makes me sad, so I really try not to. At the same time I marvel at how much my kids have grown. How much they have learned. How smart they are. How beautiful they are. How kind they are.

Grace has such a beautiful, caring heart. I know that she can have her moments, but really, she is a good kid. She's so smart (she was chosen to be on the competitive math team at her school, which out of 45-50 third graders, she was one of only 8 or 9 chosen).

Grace, I can't imagine life without you. Your eyes light up the world, and my heart. I pray as you continue to grow, you will be just as kind and caring as you are today. The world needs more Graces in it. I love you pumpkin.

Robot

The other day, Nate had a homework assignment. He read about a robot and had to answer some questions afterward. One of the questions asked for him to draw something he would like a robot to do for him. He drew a robot doing something and wrote the word "Homework" beside it.

Clever little guy.

We Remember

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear,though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. "Selah" 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her,she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. "Selah" 8Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. 10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. "Selah"

We will NEVER forget.

9.11.01

Goings On

Lots have been going on here. Been cleaning, organizing, reorganizing, hanging out, sleeping in, getting ready for the new school year at a brand new school. Grace started 3rd grade and Nate started Kindergarten.

So far, the kids are liking it. Grace LOVES it actually, Nate is Nate and just says "yeah" to every question I ask. But, he doesn't say he hates it, so that's just as good as liking it in my book.

Here are some first day of school pics:

My big girl gets a locker this year!

Now Nate, as I previously mentioned on the blog, has become quite the little math whiz. He's been adding and subtracting and we've worked up to double digits. He's been able to do them in his head. I've never once pushed him to learn any of this, he has grown an interest in math all on his own. I suppose it started with Grace asking for math problems in the car. Then he asked. We started very simply- If I have 3 cookies and I eat 1 cookie, how many cookies do I have left. Then little by little they got harder. Now that he is doing double digit adding and subtracting, I figured maybe it was time to move onto multiplication. First, I thought I would teach him counting by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's, so today I asked him if he could count by 2's.

He did. All the way to 100.

By 5's.

He did. All the way to 100.

10's.

You guessed it (although that's the easiest of the bunch).

3's.

Well, he did it, but I could tell he was adding 3 to the previous number. And after 48 he asked if we could stop, lol. 3's need work.

The other day, before I thought it would be a good idea to work on counting by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's, I taught him the 0 times table and the 1 times table. I think he's got that down pat.

Today we did the 2 times table. So that's where we are at.

He may beat out Grace soon with multiplication. She's still working on learning all of them.

Well, that's all I have to report about for now.

Math Whiz??

My 5 year old is great at adding and subtracting. No, he's not perfect, but he is really good at it. Yesterday in the car he mentioned something about negative one (-1). So I then asked him what Zero minus three is. "Negative three," he said.

Okay, that was easy.

I then asked what Negative three minus four was.

"Negative seven," he said.

Um. How did he know that?? I've since asked him several questions with adding and subtracting negative numbers and he has gotten them all correct. Well, all except for one. The one question I asked in front of Grandma to show him off. All of a sudden, he couldn't answer, ha ha.

But really. I don't even think they talk about negative numbers until 4th or 5th grade and then adding and subtracting is like 6th grade.

My 5 year old, a math whiz? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, very interesting.

Old Soul

Grace is an old soul and if you know her, you'll agree and would have already known this. She is so hilarious. She loves Little House on the Prairie. And lately she is infatuated with HGTV. I asked her today what her favorite thing is to watch on TV and she said, unsurprisingly, HGTV. Her latest passion is to be an architect and she is constantly drawing homes, and trying to sell them to me, and she is even using HGTV terms when describing the homes to me. For instance, instead of desk, she said it was a work space. Ha! I think she even said something about a trundle bed in one house. I think she spends half the day drawing houses, its so funny. But hey, I love that she has a passion and I love that she loves HGTV. We'll have to see how this plays out in her life later on.

Happy Father's Day :)

Happy Birthday

to my little nephew Isaac, who turns 3 today! I love you and miss you. Hope you're having a great 3rd birthday!