Crazy Suck....

I crazy suck at posting lately cuz I've just been crazy busy!!!!! I am going to give you all the update, bullet style:

• Scott surprised me a with a trip to Denver for our anniversary.... we went last weekend, Saturday through Monday. Stayed downtown at the Hotel Monaco, ate amazing meals out every night, drank amazing drinks and wine, shopped and enjoyed some grown-up time away! In room massages... champagne in our room and an upgrade to a suite were just some of the wonderful highlights of the weekend!!! Scott gave me amazing tickets to the upcoming DMB show at DTE as well... as if the trip weren't enough! Can't wait for the show!
• The Friday before we left, we went and stayed in Detroit and watched the Red Wings game downtown at a fun bar. We had a GREAT time and I was overserved...... way overserved.....
• Last week, I spent the majority of the work week in Detroit at a conference. It was a lot of fun and I learned a little too! Mostly... it was just great to get out with co-workers and meet lots of new great people. I just love that sort of thing.
• Luke turned 18 months this past weekend on Saturday! Today he had his checkup and he is over 27 pounds and more than 33 inches long (I think! ha!).... he HATED every minute of the appointment and screamed the entire time. It was exhausting!!!!!!!
• Ally has decided that she will NOT wear anything with a halter top! This makes it virtually impossible to find her a bathing suit, not to mention, completely WASTES the four I already bought her that are all halters! She doesn't like how it feels around her neck. UGH!!!!!
• Ally started Y Camp today...... BEST DEAL IN TOWN! Less than $100/week gets you a full week of camp.... including all their food!!! They travel 2 or 3 days a week to great places like water parks and zoos. They swim every day. Go to the library. Go to local parks. It's just awesome................ she loves it and meets great kids outside of her school. Opens her social circle!!!!

I do have some pics to upload and share... but it's Monday night... and I've had some wine... and just feel like taking it really easy until my favorite shows come on... Weeds and Nurse Jackie!

Night all.....

Bragging...

I'm not really one of those moms that is always bragging about her kid. I'm just not. I try not to talk about my kids constantly... especially to those that don't have kids or understand the dymamics there.... BUT.... I just have to brag about Ally for a little bit. :-)

We went to her "End of the School Year Appreciation" breakfast this morning. It was really nice.... her teacher invited all the parents and siblings to come to the classroom and have breakfast with the kindergarteners on their second to last day of school. As we were leaving, we thanked Mrs. Spicer and let her know how much Ally has enjoyed having her for a teacher this year.

Mrs. Spicer let US know how much SHE has enjoyed having Ally as a student. Okay, okay... maybe all teachers say this... but I really sensed her sincerity. Then, she went on to say that she was so pleased to have the most advanced reader (in kindergarten of course) to ever go through Concord. She told us that it was just an amazing experience for her to see Ally evolve as a reader and watch her blossom.....

It's TRUE! The other day at breakfast, Ally was reading the newspaper. Not your average, run of the mill kids book.... the newspaper! And, had very little trouble with the big words. We're talking words I can't read here people. :-)))))

It just amazes me how far she has come in a year's time....

Not having a real clue on HOW to teach at all.... I am just so amazed by ALL the teachers out there who have the PATIENCE and the amazing gifts to teach our children. And as a parent, it is amazing to watch your child blossom under that guidance.

We had a WONDERFUL kindergarten experience with Mrs. Spicer this year... and Ally sure loved her. I just hope we can keep her mind challenged through the summer... cuz god knows, when Ally gets bored..... there's hell to pay!!!!!!!!!!

Time to go to the bookstore!!!!!!!!!!!

Sickos...

I have to laugh at Nicole's comment on my blog after yesterday's post. It is SO TRUE! Someone in our household always seems to be sick!!!!! It has not always been this way... but it really has been since Ally started day care/preschool.

Ally wasn't sick a day of her life until she was almost two, and we decided she needed to go to day care a couple days a week to start to socialize with other kids. She had been going to Nana's everyday since I went back to work when she was around five months old... and we felt that she needed some "socializing." (this thought makes me laugh now... cuz I really could not have a more social child!)

So... we started her at ABC Academy here in Jackson... the one on Lansing Ave. I work on Parnall Road... so it was extremely convenient for her to go there! And... it was probably about a week before she got her first cold. After that, all bets were off... she spent that entire winter sick. Antibiotics over and over for ear infections. A diagnosis of milk and egg allergies that was adding to the problem. It was awful.... really awful.

Then, with Luke... he was sick with a cold in the first two weeks of his life!!!!! No two year waiting period for him! Two weeks!!!!! That's the difference between having a child at home only... and a child at school, bringing home all sorts of germs to her little brother!

I hope Luke is better off when he goes to preschool, than Ally was. Ally sure seems to have gotten it out of her system because she is not as sick at all in Kindergarten. Must have built those immunities up!!!!! Doesn't stop her from bringing it home to all of us though! Especially Luke.

I seem get every illness they have, ten times worse. I too wonder when the madness will end???

I don't think the fast pace and stress of our lives helps any of us... but I don't think I know how to live a stress-free life... so I take it as it comes.

Luke slept HORRID last night... and was generally the biggest grump on the planet yesterday evening. As a result, I am extremely tired today... and a bit grumpy myself. My patience is non-existent... I don't have much under normal circumstances, but today is bad. Good thing I have class tonight and won't be home to take it out on my kids.......

I am taking a pole dancing class in East Lansing at Pin Up Pole Dancing! It's a LOT of fun. VERY different from S Factor.... but it gets me on the pole, working out, and learning new tricks! A few weeks ago, I went inverted on the pole for the first time on my own. My friend Kristen, who I am taking the class with, spotted me over and over again until I could do it solo. Ever since then, I can't stop! I love to be upside down in the air!

I am considering starting a pole dancing blog........ hmmmm?????

Well... from sick kids to pole dancing moms...... what a random post! Happy Tuesday!

No Time to Blog...

I'm sorry I suck so bad at updating my blog lately. It's not like nothing is going on in my life. Maybe TOO many things are going on in my life. Some of which I just don't want to share I guess. Not a bad thing.... it's just how it is right now. So, you'll have to excuse me if the blogging is few and far between!

Everyone has been sick in the past week. It started last Wedensday when I got a call from my mother-in-law that Luke had a fever of 102. Off the doctor we went! Nothing wrong that you could get drugs for. Viral infection.... so just keep the tyelonol flowing. Then, Scott got it, then, I got it. It's hard to know or say if Ally ever had it. It's just a cold with body aches, but the cough if the worst. It's a chest cold of sorts with a fever and dry, hacking cough. Scott is still coughing pretty bad. I'm still feeling a bit achy and off. Could not sleep well last night at all and Luke is still not sleeping well. Just exhausted mostly!!!!

I despise summer/spring colds. Just hate them! It's just not RIGHT to have a cold this time of year....

We had a wedding this past weekend for a friend and co-worker of mine... up in Clarkston. It was an absolutely gorgeous wedding!!!!!! We had a really nice, adult night out drinking with friends... and felt a little guilt leaving a sick baby behind, but he was better for the sitter (my fabulous cousin Becky) than he is usually for us... so it all seemed to go just fine.

Last week at work was INSANELY busy for me as I am preparing to submit comments on a proposed reporting rule for greenhouse gases, as proposed by the EPA. It's been a lot of work, reading and reporting on a 1200 plus page rule... but the end is drawing near and that is something to be proud of! And, wicked happy to have behind me!

This is Ally's last week of school. Wow! How is it possible that she is finishing Kindergarten?? I think she will miss school a great deal. It should be interesting to see how the summer goes. We had so many disciplinary problems with her last summer. I hope that we don't have a repeat of that! I am hoping between Y Camp and other day camps that we hope to enroll her in, we can keep her busy and challenged. She gets angry when she gets bored I think. Kinda like someone else I know. :-) (for the slow ones out there... that would be me)

Luke is Luke. Little pain in the ass... sweet as can be... all those things boys are rolled into one. Yesterday, we had a lazy "mom is too sick to do anything and dad is at the Tiger game" kind of day. Luke and Ally had a lot of togetherness. Maybe too much. At one point, Luke was brushing Ally's hair... then, all of the sudden, he was beating her with the hair brush. OUCH! I heard her head crack all the way across the room! Then, Ally and he were playing on my bed (yes, I was still in it - lazy) and Luke "accidentally" fell off. This, after the head whacking with the hair brush. I'm not placing blame here... but Ally may have given him a gentle shove off the side. Who can blame her? No harm done... Luke barely shed a tear. He knew he deserved that one! ;-)

During Luke's naps yesterday, Ally complained that she wished he was up so they could play. Then, as soon as he would wake up, she would complain that she can't do anything with him around... he steals her toys... eats her crayons... ruins her art projects. Ya can't win with that girl sometimes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well..... we made it through the day........ that's all you can ask for sometimes. Survival. It's all about survival!