Sweet Life in the City

Well I made a HUGE decision yesterday. I have decided to go back to work. I have been struggling for a few months now and have called several places looking for something that would fit me and the girls and be worth my time. I saw an add in our local paper this weekend for a part time position that a local childcare center. I called yesterday morning and found out that the hours were from 8-12 and it was for a new Kindergarten program that they started this year. I was really excited about that because I love teaching Kindergarten, but I did not think that those hours would work for me because I knew I would have to pay so much for childcare for the girls. The director/owner of the center called me yesterday afternoon and said that she would really like to meet with me and could work out something for me to bring the girls with me. I did not want to get my hopes up because I have heard several places say that they would give me a great deal for the girls and I had actually applied at ...

We do not have much going on today. The girls and I are going to stay home and I am trying to get motivated to get the house cleaned up again. I finally got the pictures taken at Thanksgiving to post.

We had a great Thanksgiving. My parents came into town on Tuesday. Sam was supposed to go to school Tuesday but woke up complaining that his stomach hurt. I got him some breakfast but he still said his stomach hurt. He was whining and carrying on that Jeremy told him to stay home. Sam got in bed with me and slept for a little while longer. He got up and was just running and acting wild. I told him that I thought he said his tummy hurt and that he should have gone to school because obviously his tummy did not hurt. He then responded, "Well mom, I just did not think it was fair that I had to wait to wait to see Grandma and Grandpa, and besides I already know my ABC's, lower and upper case." I wonder how many times he is going to use that to try to get out of school. Wednesday Jeremy and I went to the chiropractor and Sam kept asking us how things went at "choir practice" when we got back. We all went to my brother's house Wednesday evening and stayed the night...

Busy, busy weekend and busy, busy week. Friday I subbed for first grade. I wish I could say it was fun but it was actually kind of stressful. Friday happen to be Character Dress-up day at school and it was the last day before their Thanksgiving break. SO, the kids were completely CRAZY!! I made it through the day but determined I did not get paid enough on Friday to handle another day like that!! Friday night was the lock-in. I made it until 2:00 and I probably would have stayed later if I had not had a little incident at the first house. The first house we went to was way off the road Their driveway was gravel and muddy and a series of several hills. Well when we were leaving I started up the hill and my tires were just peeling out and I could not get up the hill. The van started rolling back and I thought we were going to end up in their pond. The more I tried to get up the hill the more the tires peeled out and the van was going all over the place. I finally got rolled back into a s...

Well I do not have much time to post because I have so much to do around the house and some errands to run after lunch. Yesterday was a pretty good day. The girls and I went to Sam's school for their Thanksgiving dinner (lunch). The dinner was not very good but it was worth the trip to see Sam's smile when he saw us waiting for him in the hallway. After lunch I brought sam home with us and I was able to spend a little time with him playing games and coloring. Last night was church so the kids got to bed later than usual and the girls actually slept in past 7:00 this morning. Today I am getting the house cleaned and trying to make a dent in my laundry. Since I started subbing one to two days a week I have gotten behind on the laundry, so today I am going to try and catch up. I am subbing again tomorrow and then we have a lock-in tomorrow night for the youth group. I am going to attempt to stay all night but I am not sure. The kids are staying at Gran and Papa's tomorrow nigh...

I have been trying most of the day to upload the pictures from Emma's party but they will not post. I thought I would go ahead and give a recap of the past few days and try again later to post the pictures, so here we go. Thursday- Emma had her three year old check-up. She did just a great job at the doctor. She weighs a whole 25 pounds and is 35 1/2 inches long. She is tiny but she is growing right on track. She had to get one shot (2 nd dose of Hep A, I think) and she got the flu vaccine. They were out of he H1N1 vaccine for her age so we did not get that one. She also had to get her finger pricked to make sure she is not anemic. Chloe also got a seasonal flu shot and the H1N1 shot. After the doctor we picked up a $5 pizza fro Little Caesars and then came home. Friday- The girls and I stayed home all day. I got my house mostly cleaned and worked on the laundry. When Jeremy and Sam got home we had supper and then headed out to Pleasant View Christian School's Tip-Off. They we...

We have been up around here since early this morning. Samuel fell asleep on the way home from school yesterday and stayed asleep until 4 o'clock this morning. He usually falls asleep and sleeps for an hour or so when he gets home and then wakes up, but last night he did not want to wake up. We tried several times to wake him up but he was so tired. We put him in his bed (which usually wakes him right up) but he continued to sleep. So at 4:00 this morning Sam was at our bed needing something to eat. So he ate a bowl of cereal and then got in bed with us. At some point he got out of our bed and got the girls up. At 6:00 all three kids were roaming around the house. I put Chloe back in the the bed and put Emma in our bed. Neither girl went back to sleep so we finally all got up. Well after the girls nap we are going to a few stores and the Emma has her 3 year old check-up this afternoon. Well Gran got the girls these play hair accessories and the girls love them. There were some plast...

Emma seemed to have a great birthday. She went to lunch with Gran yesterday and then we went out to Logan's for supper last night. We were going to go somewhere else but she wanted to go to the "peanuts" place. She opened her presents from us and my parents when Jeremy and Sam got home. She got a Dora scooter from my parents and we got her a Tinkerbell doll. I got her a little cake that we brought to Logan's with us to eat. Today we are just staying home until church tonight. Well the kids slept good again last night so I think me switching their rooms is going to work out fine. There was one little situation with Chloe last night. It was about 10:00 and Jeremy and I had just gone to bed when we heard this thud and then Chloe crying. I ran into her room but I could not find her. I could hear her but it was really muffled. She has fallen head first in between the wall and the bed. I could not tell where she was because only her little feet where sticking up. I felt bad...

Today my sweet Emma turned 3 years old. It is hard to believe that she is already 3! She has grown so much the past few months and it is becoming clear that she is not my little baby anymore. Sometimes I will be holding her in my lap and it is still hard to believe that she finally made it home. One of the hardest things I have ever had to do was wait for Emma to come home. There were times in our journey with her that felt hopeless and the heartache was too much to take at times. Emma finally made it home and I was not sure what I had gotten into! She was so stubborn and was so different from Sam that our parenting skills were really put to the test. Now all that waiting and all those difficult days seem like they never happened when Emma smiles at us or we hear her laugh. She really has become a sweet little girl and we can not imagine our life without her. I am not sure if I have ever mentioned this but Emma has a biological brother that was adopted about 2 years before she was born...

We all had a good day but I am beat. I taught 4th grade today and I once again enjoyed it. It was a different class then I had last week so I was able to teach some more of my kids that I had in Kindergarten. It just makes my heart happy to see them growing into sweet young girls and boys. It also makes me happy that they still love me and are happy to see me. Emma had another great day at school and Chloe spent the day getting spoiled by Gran and Papa. Samuel also had a big day. They had an award assembly today and he made Honor Roll. He got a certificate and he was beaming all evening. After we all got home from school we went to Sam's Club for some items for our youth room and we got a pizza while we were there. Sam has been eating sooo much the past few weeks. I think he is hitting a growth spurt and he never seems to be full. Anyway, tonight he only ate one piece of pizza and Jeremy asked if he wanted more and he said that he was full. Jeremy and I laughed and said that was so...

Not much to post today. The girls and I went to the grocery store today and then came home. Emma picked out her plates and napkins for her birthday. She wanted a Tinkerbell party so that is what we got. She is so excited about her birthday but is confused about when it is going to be her actual birthday. She keeps asking "what time is it?". Well I have been working on the laundry all day. Tomorrow I am going to sub so that should be fun. Well here are a few pictures. The first one is from our trip to the vet with Maggie (sorry it is a little blurry). The other three were taken at Chloe's Gotcha Day supper at Logan's.

I had planned on staying home today to finish getting the house cleaned, but Maggie had other plans for us. I mentioned the other week that Maggie had an episode. Well since that night she has been itchy and her tail and skin has been looking red and infected. I have tried to medicate her myself with different lotions and such but she was getting worse. She has been scratching so much that she has been scratching the hair off her body. I love my dog but I was worried to taker her to the vet because I was afraid that something was really wrong with her. I kept checking her for fleas or ticks but never found any. Well yesterday it was horrible and she was miserable so the girls and I took her to the vet this morning. It turns out she was bitten by a flea and she is allergic to them. I use flea medication on her but the flea must have bitten her before it died. The vet found a few dead fleas on her. So I was totally grossed out to think that there might be fleas in my house. The vet gave...

We had a great weekend. Saturday night we went to several houses for the kids to Trick or Treat and then we went to a church that was having Trunk or Treat. After the stop at the church the girls were done for the night but Sam was still ready for some more. We went to another neighborhood and Sam and I got out and walked to some more houses while Jeremy and the girls stayed in the car. Sam had so much fun and I could not believe how much candy the kids got from the few places we went. We got home about 7:30 and Sam was so hyper I did not think he would ever go to sleep. He actually told me that he was going to be awake for a LONG time. I finally got him settled down and got all of them to bed. Sunday we had church and then we had planned to eat lunch at home but when we got home my crock pot knob was turned to warm instead of high so the roast was no where to being cooked. We changed clothes and then headed out to lunch. Jeremy stayed at a local cafe and worked on his school work and ...

I will post more about our weekend later today after I get the pictures posted, but I did want to post that one year ago today Jeremy, Samuel, Emma and I went to Detroit to complete our family and pick up our little Chloe Bear. I cannot believe that it has already been a year since she came home. She is a little stinker sometimes but we are so thankful that we were able to make her part of our family. We love you Chloe!