Autumn View

The view from where I'm sitting is so lovely I thought I'd share. Actually, it's even better now because Katie is out there raking up leaves to play in.

Full Week

So last week was a bit crazy around here. Mike was part of the county-wide Jr. High Honors Orchestra. They started rehearsals on Monday night and spent all Tuesday rehearsing together. They had a concert Tuesday evening and sounded super! Mike was third chair on the bass, even though they don't technically have chairs.

In the midst of this, Katie came home Monday and asked if we could do her hair because they just announced picture day was Tuesday. Now, in most households this would call for a haircut or maybe some highlights. In our house it means a trip to Sally's beauty supply for bleach and unnatural hair colors. We finished up around 1:30 in the morning, but her purple and pink hair looked awesome.

Wednesday night, Nicholas worked on his landform project. He made a peninsula out of salt dough and moss. Katie helped out, especially when it came time to play with the leftover dough. Nicholas got an A+, and very green hands from all the food coloring he used in the dough.

For some reason it seemed extra hectic at work, too. Especially with all the plumbers running around and working on our 50 year old pipes. Yuck!

I'm still peddling hard to try and keep things on even keel. Actually, Nicholas is home sick today and since it's nothing serious, I am REALLY enjoying the day off. He went to a party last weekend and got in a hay fight with a friend. He was getting wheezy and congested Sunday, then started to run a slight fever last night, so we went to visit Dr. Kinney today. Dr. Kinney told Nicholas that he must have Hay Fever and that some bug or another must have gotten in his lungs and thought it looked like a fun place to throw a party for his friends. He prescribed an antibiotic and some cough medicine, so all should be fine quickly. He's sitting on the couch watching Sponge Bob, and seems to be doing well.

That's the latest from here.

My Daddy

My dad went into the hospital last week and had two stents inserted. There were some blockages where he had a quadruple bypass about 15 years ago. He's had a few other stents put in over the years so we were familiar with the procedure. Everything went fine and he went home on Wednesday, which was his 79th birthday. The doctors said that his heart is very strong and there hasn't been any damage to it. He reports that he feels much better and can definitely tell a difference since the procedure. Hurray for dad!

New Van

Well, after about 9 years we've traded in the Grand Caravan. I thought we'd pop on down and buy another one just like it, but they had changed them so much in the last nine year that I didn't care for them as much anymore. We shopped around and ended up getting this 2004 Honda Oddessy. David was snapping the picture while I was flying out of the driveway on my way to work. It drives like a dream. It's amazing, if I punch the gas it goes!

Latest news

Things seem to be finding their rhythm a bit more around here, finally. Other than oftentimes being 2-5 minutes late for work, things are much smoother. And I only feel stupid a few times a week.



At work we just finished our SACS quality review process. SACS is an accrediting agency that reviews school and colleges and certifies them if they meet the qualifications. Since we are the best elementary school in Metro, and possibly the world, we passed with flying colors. The chair of the committee even told some other schools to come and look at our presentation materials to see how it's done.

We had our 50th anniversary party at the school a few weeks ago. Here's a picture of the cake I made for the event. There was a good turnout of former staff and a few students, as well. My Principal, Ms. Williams, put together a slide show and a nice program for everyone to enjoy. It was fun to hear the original principal talk about how things were when the school opened.





We've also added a new pet to the Buchanan Zoo. Meet Molly Cricket. A friend at work was looking for a home for a baby kitten. I told her I'd love to have another one, but there was no way David would go for it. To prove it, I called him with her standing there. Well, imagine my surprise when he said, "sure." I have decided that for cats and children, three is my limit!
She has ignored the litter box once or twice, and Kaylee is still occasionally piddling in the house, so we've been working hard to keep the house from smelling like we have a large dog, three cats, and two rats living with the five people. In other words, we're in denial.