A's........summer vacation

All is well except for a few sicko's in the house! Brent & Maddy are home again today and Scott is home today too. We can't shake the crud! We need to because gma/gpa are coming on Sunday! Gpa's bday/Valentine's day and Hayley's straight A report card are to be celebrated! She's had 2 B's and all A's but this qtr she had all A's! Brent and Maddy's report cards were terrific as well.

Hayley and I went with church a few weeks ago to Kids Against Hunger to pack food. There were so many people there that she, 6 other girls and another mom I know packed the toothbrush, comb, toy bags. We got a ton done and the girls had so much fun doing it! It felt wonderful to know those bags will help someone. The toys were so cute too.........I hope the kids like them.

I'm excited.....I'm in the midst of finding our vacation rental in Outer Banks NC for this summer! YIPPPPEEEEEEEEE! There are mostly 5 bdrm + houses and we don't need that much room. I have found a condo right on the beach in Rodanthe! It's where Nights in Rodanthe was filmed. But anyway, it's beautiful and I can't wait to go! It could be a one way ticket for all I care =) No, now is not the time to think of moving again but that's my next stop somewhere on the coast. A family that is friends of ours here have a timeshare in Myrtle Beach and that's our next vacation!

The barn is great and I can't wait for warmer weather as I'm sure the horses can't either. The rescue had to put 2 down last week. One was old and failing and the other was quickly going blind due to mistreatment before she came to the rescue. The rescue however has 3 new horses. One looks like a dalmation! So many spots. He's a little antsy and one of the girls was working on his manners with the stall door open and I think he had enough and decided it was time to go. He charged his way out of the stall, knocking the volunteer down and into the concrete wall. She thinks she may have broken a rib. I keep my distance from the horses I don't know too well.

Well, I better go and get ready for work. I need to stop and get a Starbuck's for hubby and me.

What's new..........

The kids had 2 snow days a week ago-Thurs & Friday. The main roads were clear but apparently some back roads were not. We had gotten 3-5 inches. They were off this last Friday for end of the qtr and today. It's nice to have 2 four day weekends! Our snow is gone now =) it's been in the 40's here. Which when you have 6 inches total of snow, it doesn't take long to thaw!

On Friday, I brought Hayley to see the Kings Firecracker jump rope team. A lady I work with, her daughter is on the team. Kings is located next to Mason which is 10 min from Loveland. The team has performed all over. Their website is www.kingsfirecrackers.com you can watch videos of their performances. They performed at the Loveland/Milford varsity bball game.

Life at the barn is thawing out. We had a cold spell for a week or so and the horses stayed in the barn all week. UGH! Now they're back out in the mud.........a bunch of us went in to buy a new gate for one of the pastures. I sponsored Cinnamon this month. The $$ will go to her grain, hay and bedding. With that, I can go see her and spend time with her when I want. Which is hard now since everything is mud. I could use the indoor arena. At least her expenses or most of them are paid.

Hayley and I are going to Kids Against Hunger Saturday with the 46er's church group to fill packets of food. 46'ers had it planned anyway, but maybe these packets will be sent to Haiti.

I think that's all for now. I'm off to get lunch.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! We had a fun xmas and break. We woke unexpected early on Wed am and thought we need to leave then instead of Thursday. We woke the kids at 5 am, packed and were out the door by 6:30 am to beat the snow storm in Mn! Glad we did, it started snowing as we crossed the Mn border. We had rain most of the way there. The kids did great as they were tired and slept =) and Jake did great too! He had the whole back to himself to sprawl out and snooze. We stayed with Doug & Lisa and the kids had a blast-me too! Thank you for having us! Jake and Molly had fun too playing in the snow. As you can see the Darling Divas here........listening to the Ipod. We went to church xmas eve and woke to find Santa came! He found the Ohio kids in Becker =) We saw gma/gpa on Saturday for xmas and went sledding with all aunts/uncles and gpa on Sunday! Maddy was too scared to go down the hill herself. She's the pink ball in gpa's lap. Brent went down 37 times he said-he was keeping track! Everyone had so much fun and it was wonderful weather to be out. We went to Carol's for pizza and to spend the night. Scott, kids and Doug went home Monday and Hayley and I met Paige and Sarah for dinner =) Thank you gals for a fun night!!

We left Tuesday, had a good trip home. Wednesday we opened presents from Santa (he stopped here too) and other gifts we didn't have room to take with. Gpa/gma were supposed to come back with us but gma is not feeling good so in a few weeks they'll be here =)

We had a good New Year's eve. The kids watched the ball drop and Maddy fell asleep on the floor before then. It's back to school, work, the usual. The kids had a 90 minute school delay on Tuesday due to the 2 inches of snow we had. Today school is canceled because of the 3-5 inches we're supposed to get here sometime today. Mind you it hasn't started snowing yet! I guess I'd rather have the kids home then have dangerous roads this afternoon getting them home. So who knows if there's school tomorrow.

God bless you in this new year!

Winter at the barn, Jake........

Happy Holidays!!!!! I can't believe it's almost here! The kids are so excited. It's wonderful to be off for xmas break =)

We woke to snow yesterday. The grass isn't totally covered so we didn't get much. I went to the barn yesterday and the horses were so pretty with the snow and it started to snow while I was there. Here are some pic's......the 2nd pic is Dynamite and the donkey the rescue has. This is Dynamite's first snow, so when I led him out of the barn he stopped and wasn't sure what was going on. Dynamite is so cute! He's a stud muffin and the rescue is going to use him to 'stud out!' The other pic's are of Black Jack. His owners couldn't care for him or Power Motion anymore. They're both $40k horses and they have real shoes. They are some of the bigger horses the rescue has. I was nervous leading him out to the field-I didn't need one of us to slip! For his size, he's very gentle and sweet. I had to hold my phone up to take his pic-he is so tall. One of the girls that helps got kicked in the thigh yesterday by Dover. She walked into a group of horses which can't say I'd suggest doing. She's ok but quite sore. The horses are so sweet and gentle but I'm sure to not forget what they're capable of. They get testy around each other especially when it comes to food and you need to watch out.

And Jake..............the vet called last week and Jake is clean and healthy!!! The vet was certain that Jake's tumor was cancer because it burst. We were so happy to hear the news!! He's doing great and his incision is healing. Our kids and Dori's (our neighbor) 3 kids were out playing in the snow yesterday. Jake was out playing with their puppy Toby. The kids made a fort and came in for hot cocoa and Krispy Kremes. It's in the mid 30's and to reach 40 in the next week, so the snow won't be around long. YEAH!

I'm off to get ready for church-we have to greet too. I have xmas shopping to finish today too!

Jake

Jake came home last night around dinner time. He was still groggy. His surgery went well and he did fine. Everyone's glad to have him home. We'll know later this week the results of what type of cancer he has and if it's the type that spreads. For now his bed is in the laundry room since his hip is oozing and bloody. The incision is probably 5 inches long or so. He was more alert and ready to go out this am.

I started my job on Monday. It's fun w/ the kids and always something to do. I take the kids down to lunch, bring them out to recess after and so on for 2 more lunches. Down here, there's no outside recess if it's 30 degrees or colder. Today we have the storm Mn had. It's windy and only to get windier and the day goes on. It was raining over night so hopefully it won't freeze as the temps are supposed to drop today. I'm bummed that I didn't get Brent's lunch group =( but I still walk by and see him in class and in the hallway. There's lots of kids I know from Brent and Maddy's classes. I have free reign to run things that work for me. It sounds like they need some new, proactive people working. There's another monitor so we split the building and she has Brent's half of the classes. I have some 2nd graders, but mostly 1st grade. One recess, the music teacher is on the playground too. She and I talked about Brent and his 'musical abilities!' She sent a note home with him saying he's 'in tune to pitch and beat more than other kids!' She thought he could pursue some musical things outside of school. The kids plays football and can hold a music rhthym (sp?) =) it's great to be with the teachers and here how Brent is doing. Well, I'm off to shower and go to work!

Jake

I spoke with the vet yesterday and the results from Jake's small biopsy are in. The bump under his chest is a fatty cyst. The mass on his hip they believe is cancer due to how the cells are reacting. He goes today for blood work and will have surgery on Tues to remove the whole mass and have it tested further to see which type of cancer it is and if it's spread. Keep him in your prayers! I'll keep updating.

My New Job!

It's official as of yesterday, I'm a permanent employee of the Loveland School district!! My new job is the Student Activity Monitor at Brent's school-1st and 2nd grades. I will be the monitor in the lunchroom and playground and I start Monday. I'm excited! My hours are every day from 10:30-1:15-Perfect! Brent's excited too to have me there. It will be nice to have set hours and days. It makes it easier to volunteer in the kids' classrooms. I have the holidays off (with pay) the kids do and summer's off. They average my pay so I'm paid all year-even in the summer when I'm off. YEAH!!

Thanksgiving was fun and relaxing. Our turkey turned out AWESOME and we had pie, mashed potatoes and all. YUM! The kids were off Wed-Friday so it was nice to be home with them.

We took Jake in Monday to have his bumps tested-he has 2. Well one is a flat mass. We should know today or tomorrow what the test shows. Many prayers for him!

Jenny and I went to see New Moon on Tuesday. WONDERFUL as I figured it would be! Hayley wants to see it so I'm taking her this weekend =) She's read the 1st & 2nd books 3 times and Eclipse once.

Well, I'm off to get Maddy ready for school. No call so far for work today so I'm enjoying a day off!