Good News...and other little tidbits.

I have good news. I have passed my boards. I am officially a Licensed Practical Nurse. I am in the process of searching for a job. Finding a job is the easy part, finding the right job is the hard part.

Both of my girls went to Middle School Summer Camp this year. This was Alyssa's first time to go away and not be around me, her dad, grandparents, or an aunt/uncle. She did a great job. This was also Amber's last year at Middle School Camp. She will be going to high school camp next summer. Scott (my boyfriend) told the girls that on Alyssa's first year to High School Camp that all four of us (Scott, me, Amber, & Alyssa) will go. He was unable to attend High School Camp this year, but has attended the last 4 summers. I liked camp as a teenager and look forward to going as a chaperone.

Amber will be having 4 more baby teeth pulled on 8/7. This is the same day that Grandma will be having knee surgery. We will have 2 whiney-babies that will be commiserating together. I guess I can practice my nursing skills on them.

Alyssa will be going to the orthodontist in September to see if she is ready for braces.

It has been a long time....

Amber has completed 7th grade. She will be in 8th grade next year. She has also made the Cheerleading squad for the school basketball team.

Alyssa has completed 5th grade. She will be in 6th grade next year. Alyssa plans to follow in her sister's footsteps and be in the chorus also.

I have completed school. I graduated from college with a 3.6 gpa in practical nursing which is a diploma program. I will also be receiving my A.A.S. (Associates in Applied Science) in Health Studies in September 2008 with a 3.6 gpa also.

Both of the girls will be attending Middle School Summer Camp this year. Amber is not too thrilled, but Alyssa seems excited. They will be going to Horn's Creek in Tennessee again this year. Amber is excited that next summer she will get to go to High School Summer Camp with Christopher.

I have been dating a really wonderful guy named Scott for the past 6 months. He calls us his "Sweet Angels". We attend church together. Scott has an identical twin brother. The girls really seem to like Scott.



I am also now a blonde.

Is someone else shaving???

Yes!!! Alyssa is now shaving.

Alyssa shaves her legs for the 1st time on June 5, 2007!!!

Notice the concentration!

An assist from her big sister, Amber!

Everyone is growing up so fast!!

Easter Pictures

Here are some of our Easter pictures...

Alyssa

Alyssa sporting her special jewelry

Amber

Amber and her mature jewelry

All of us.

(Just between us - I don't think that yellow is my color, but Amber picked the dress.)

We had lots of candy from the Easter Bunny (this year we were visited by Mama Cottontail).

Update on school grades for the girls...

The girls have been doing a really great job this year in school (as usual).

Amber has maintained all A's & B's so far this year.

Alyssa has maintained straight A's so far this year.

The girls have 20 more days of school (if I counted right). CRCT (end of grade testing) has been completed. Amber is the only one this year that MUST pass. Alyssa took them this year, but they really don't count against you or for you.

"Race to Win” is a Winner!!

February 11, 2007
“Race to Win” is a Winner!

The children's choir performed an exciting musical called Race to Win. The musical which also starred Dale Waltrip via satellite (really it was pre-recorded by Lifeway for performances). The performance was a hit.

The musical was about 2 NASCAR drivers, one was a christian and the other was not. The christian driver gave an engine to the non-christian driver (for free) so he could finish the race. The non-christian driver could not understand why someone would give him an engine for free. The christian driver explains by explaining how God did the same thing for us. God sent His Son to die on the cross to save us from our sins – this is a free gift from God. All we have to do is accept it.

The musical shined with the help of Alyssa, even though she was just in the choir – the musical would not have been the same without her. The musical had the crowd on the edge of their seats with the superb singing, acting and the NASCAR crash clips. This is definitely what one can call “a hard act to follow”.

Congratulations

Amber and Alyssa have 3 new siblings, well step-siblings.

We would like to congratulate Brian and Alex on their marriage.

Amber and Alyssa now have a step-sister, Brittany, and 2 step-brothers, Chris and Anthony.

We Have A NEW PUPPY!!!!!!!

WOW. What EXCITEMENT!!! A PUPPY!!!!!

Amber went out this afternoon to bring in Salsa when out of the blue she hears tiny yelps. She searches for the culprit and finds Missy in the igloo (doghouse) with a tiny puppy. Amber was so excited. Alyssa is excited because this will be her puppy.

In honor of the fact that it is Christmas...the puppy (a girl) has been named:

Merry Felize

(It is either Merry or Mary).

Here is a picture of Merry Felize with her mother, Missy.

PS: The puppy was born on Grandma's birthday.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!!!!!

***CHRISTMAS BELIEVERS BEWARE***

******DISCLAIMER: CHRISTMAS BELIEVERS BEWARE********

We are officially, unofficially a non-believing Christmas house. Alyssa asked the big Christmas question the other day..."Is Santa real?"

Now, bear in mind, that Alyssa asked this question about 2 years ago. When she asked me then, I asked her if she really, really wanted to know (asked about 20 times). She said, "YES." So, I told her the truth. She was devastated by this news -- so I did what any mom would have done, I told her I was kidding...everyone knows Santa is real. Well, Alyssa doesn't remember this happening (which helped her to continue to believe). So here we are in the present...

"Is Santa real?" This time I wanted to make sure she really wanted to know. I asked her, "Do you really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really want to know?" Of course, she said, "YES." So, we had 'THE TALK'. I came clean about Santa. She didn't cry, so far so good! I figure, let's take it a little further...

I asked her if she wanted to know about any other people. She wasn't sure what I meant. So I said, "You know, Cupid, the Boogey Man, Mother Nature, Father Time..." She asked, "Are they real?" I again asked her, "Do you really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really want to know?" Of course, she said, "YES." So, we had another talk. I came clean about Cupid, the Boogey Man, Mother Nature, Father Time, Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny. She looked at me and asked, "So, is the Sand Man real?" I came clean again.

Alyssa has handled the news well. She shamelessly announces her gift requests as loudly as possible. I think she was ready this time. She even wrote about "the Santa truth" in her journal at school.

As I said in the beginnning we are officially, unofficially a non-believing Christmas house. This means, we still go through the motions...JUST IN CASE...someone gave us the wrong information!!

A little bird told me...Santa wants Oatmeal Raisin cookies from Subway and a cold coke under the tree.

MY BABY IS GROWING UP!!!!!

Alyssa visits with the dogs

Salsa (black dog with brown collar), Missy (black dog with blue collar), Pepi (beige dog with Alyssa), and Tasha (beige dog in other pen behind Alyssa).

Braces??????

We went to the orthodontist on September 25th. The orthodontist states that Alyssa needs to return in 1 year to be re-evaluated. Amber, on the other hand, needs to come back in 6 months to be re-evaluated. The orthodontist also told us he feels it is important and necessary to remove 4 of Amber's baby teeth now so the adult teeth have a bigger space to come in. So Amber will be having a cuspid and a molar removed from both sides of her upper jaw on October 17th. She seems excited about the procedure right now, except she doesn't want a needle in her mouth while she is awake. I told her that they will probably use a needle while she is awake, but that they numb the entry point with some ointment. She isn't to sure about this.

Our Little Bunnies

We found some baby bunnies after the yard was mowed.

One bunny died...leaving us with two.

Sadly, in the end we lost the other two bunnies. This was a wonderful experience for the girls. We hope that we have learned when to let go if we have another opportunity to help some baby bunnies.

Our visit to the GA Aquarium

We went to the Georgia Aquarium with Ken, Donna, and Chris the day before the girls went to school. A special "THANKS" to Uncle Ken and Aunt Donna for letting us come with them. We enjoyed ourselves at the aquarium. And THANKS to Chris too.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!!!

After a long day of fun...

School is going good...

The girls seem to be settling into the school year great.

Amber is enjoying being part of the "top dogs" at school. I hope she realizes she will be at the bottom of the food chain next year in 6th grade. Amber likes her teacher, Mr. Seusser (pronounced: sizer). Amber is off to a good start with AR. She is currently tied for 1st in her class with 4 points. The person she is tied with had 500 something points last year, remember Amber had 107 points, so I don't really expect Amber to stay in 1st. I do expect her to do her best and to at least get her minimum required AR points for this 9 weeks (15 points). Bonus info: Mr. Seusser has a son who was born last year on what day? March 6th!!!

Alyssa is also in 1st place in her class for AR. She leads her class with 2 points, which is also what she is required to get per week. As you might have guessed, no many kids got the required 2 points - matter of fact Alyssa was the only one. Alyssa seems to enjoy Mrs. Carrasco. This is the same teacher that Amber had last year. Alyssa's biggest competition for AR will come from a boy named Cameron in her class. He was in her class last year. He is a very intelligent boy who has his head on straight all ready. Hmmmmm, I will have to remember him when she is old enough to have a boyfriend.

I have been volunteering in Alyssa's class. I volunteered in Amber's at the end of last year. Everything was going good until yesterday. My car got hit by a teacher at the school. It is not that bad. They put a small dent in the passenger front door and loosened the side view mirror on the passenger side. I think the teacher only had a busted tail light. She called the police and came and got me. I appreciated her honesty. She said that last year someone hit her car and she never found out who. Oh well!!! Life goes on.

I have almost purchased all my school supplies. I still need to buy a watch with a second hand on it. Today I purchased my scrub pants, shoes, pen light, and bandage scissors. This is really starting to feel REAL!!! I mean I really feel like I am getting ready to start nursing school. I am still full of MIXED EMOTIONS!!!!

Alyssa's Bargain

Alyssa was a real bargain shopper!!!! Alyssa bought a huge basket of chocolate at her school carnival's auction. She paid $40 for the basket. She has returned about half of the chocolate (the stuff she doesn't like) to Walmart. Her returns came to $43.25 and we still have 6 more things to return (1 item is a $4 from Sav-A-Lot). I guess Alyssa is a pretty good "Bargain Hunter".

Alyssa's thinned out "Chocolate Basket" which she got for free since she has re-couped all of her money!!! What a BARGAIN HUNTER!!!!

This basket was overflowing with CHOCOLATE. It took me 4 trips from the care to carry all the chocolate into the house. I carried this basket piled over the top and then carried 3 more armloads into the house. This basket should last Alyssa a while. She is being very good about eating a little at a time. Any one wants some chocolate - Alyssa might give you a small bit (or maybe not). She really loves chocolate.

School Carnival

The girls school had their 14th Annual Spring Carnival yesterday. I know what you are thinking -- school carnival's are kind of hokey!! This school has the carnival down to a science. They charge $15.00 for a bracelet. This bracelet allows you to participate in all games. I bought the girls each a bracelet. We got to the carnival at 11 am (which is when it opened). They actually had a pretty decent carnival. They had 2 blow-up obstacle courses for little kids, a paddle boat lagoon (huge shallow pool with 4 boats to race in), 4 easy (easy, easy) games you play until you win (you get a prize no matter what!!), a blow up boxing rink with jumbo boxing gloves (the gloves were almost bigger than Alyssa - Alyssa and Amber could barely lift them), a blow up Q-tip battle rink (you know those sticks with cushions on both ends - they had to stand on these foam stands and hit each other off), a blow up bungie run race, a huge blow up slide, a blow up tweety cage (strictly a bouncing cage), and a monster size blow up obstacle course. They also had a cake walk, manicure station, face painting station, and (temporary) tatoo station and bingo.

The carnival ends at 5 pm and is followed by an auction. Let's just say that we were there from start to after finish. We stayed for the auction. It was my first auction. Some stuff went at bargain prices while others went ridiculously high. A teacher paid $190.00 for a reserved parking space up front next school year. They had a lot of great items in the auction. Each classroom had to enter something in the auction plus each grade level also entered a grade level item. Examples: Amber's class did an "Arts & Crafts basket" - it sold for $30.00, Alyssa's class had a white round table painted with "fingerprint bugs" on it and the name of each child with their bug - it sold for $75.00 (I stopped bidding at $45.00), a handcrafted oak porch swing - sold for $250.00 (the girls wanted that), a child-size wooden picnic table - sold for $75.00, a bookcase dollhouse (created by special ed class) - sold for $290.00 (the girls wanted it - I stopped bidding at $40 - it just wasn't worth more), the 3rd grade had a "desperate chocaholic's basket" this laundry basket held a ton of chocolate - sold for $40.00 (needless to say...Alyssa wanted this and she won it too - she bought it with her birthday money). We ended up leaving school around 8:15pm. I decided next year I am getting me a bracelet too, I can at least play some bingo and try to win a cake in the cake walk. (I got tired of just walking around for six hours while they played.)

Alyssa went through the chocolate basket that she "won" (bought) and picked out everything she didn't like (surprisingly she pulled out 2 walmart bags of chocolate stuff that she didn't like and still has a huge laundry basket full of chocolates. If I calculated about right, Alyssa paid $40.00 for about $65.00 in chocolates. I told Alyssa since she bought it she could decide what to do with the chocolates she didn't like -- she gave a (very, very, very) little to her grandparents and wants me to return to Walmart anything they will take. She will recoup some of her money that way. She is planning to share some of the chocolate with her sister (who is mildly allergic to chocolate) and her mom (who is also allergic to chocolate). We had fun at the carnival and learned that all school carnivals are not hokey...at least their auctions can be lots of fun. They had a professiona auctioneer - he actually won some stuff because no one wanted it. He was very fun to listen to.

It has been a while....

As I promised here are the pictures of the girl's Valentine boxes. They really turned out great. Amber's box came in 2nd place in her class. Alyssa's class didn't vote on their boxes, but if they had she would have done great too.

Amber's Box

Alyssa's Box

I know I may be biased, but I really think they designed beautiful boxes. I thought they did great. They got lots of Valentines and candy. Fortunately, we do not have any serious boyfriends yet!!!!!!!!!

I will actually be posting several messages over the next few days to catch up!!!