Fun Times At the Zoo!!

Today the kids and I, along with my cousin's little girl Margo went to the zoo. We went with the ER crew. Everyone had such a good time and all the kids were so well behaved....we didn't even have to leave any of them there to live with the monkeys! (I always threaten this when someone is misbehaving on zoo trips.) It was about 900 degrees today, but the heat didn't slow any of them down. Needless to say, I had 3 tired kiddos when we got home. That was fine with me....I dropped Margo off and went home and put the kids to bed. They were so exhausted, they took naps with no complaints! That was fine with me, I have 2 papers that have to be written by Sunday and since I am working on Friday and Saturday, I'm pushed for time. I finished one of them tonight and should finish the other one tommorow.

Camel Rides

This was all Kaylyn talked about from the time we got there until we FINALLY made it around to the camels. She was so excited to get to ride a camel around in a circle! Luke was all set to ride and then chickened out at the last minute, but after he saw Kaylyn and Margo were riding with no problem he decided he would be able to ride, so he got to ride by himself.

Riding on the Train

This was the fastest train ride I have ever been on at the zoo. I think the conductor thought he was driving the Run-away mine train at Six Flags! I seriously thought the thing was going to de-rail at any time!

Look At All The Animals....

I think this was the best zoo trip Luke has ever had. He was so amazed by all the animals. He had to point out everything they did to anyone who would listen! He kept saying "Look at that!!!"

Lots of Pics...

Ya'll know I just can't resist photo op's. These were some tired kiddos by the end of the day!

The Favorite Part of the Day...

Of course the water fountains are always a big hit. They could stay there all day. This year they have added this foaming thing which basically spits out soap suds. It's like a big bubble bath with no water. The kids loved it!

Such A Big Boy!!!

Today I took both kids to the dentist for their cleaning. Luke went to the back all by himself!! Our pediatric dentist wants the kids to be able to come to the back without parents so they start trying to see them alone as soon as they can. I wasn't so sure Luke would go alone, but he did. They said he was a good boy, just a little nervous, asking lots of questions....typical Luke. I'm so proud of him.

Both kids got good reports...no cavities!!! Yeah!!

Kaylyn's Sassy New Do....

Last night Kaylyn for some reason decided to cut her hair. I thought at 7 1/2 years old we were past the age of cutting hair, but I guess I was mistaken. She cut about 5 big chunks of hair, all different lengths, and all very short. There was nothing left to do but to get it cut. The hairstylist cut about 4 inches off of her hair....I almost cried when I saw the big pile of hair on the floor. This is her first major hair cut.... (sniffle, sniffle). Oh well, it is a cute cut and she loves it.

Chloe Pics

Big Girl sitting all by herself!

Chloe got her "new ears" as we like to call them. She's doing very well with keeping them on.
Just playing

Chloe Update....

Yesterday Chloe got her hearing aids and had some further testing done on her ears. The testing determined that she does have a profound hearing loss. This pretty much makes her a candidate for a cochlear implant, which will be done just after she turns one. There will be more testing to come over the next few months to determine for sure if she will be a candidate, but her audiologist seemed optamistic. As far as her hearing aids...she responded to loud sound when it was about 12 inches away from her ear. This means that even with hearing aids, she still doesn't hear very well. She does have some hearing, which will keep her auditory nerves stimulated until it's time for surgery. She's growing so fast, the molds which were taken 2 weeks ago are already too small. She has to have new ones made on Friday when she goes back for speech therapy.

Alabama Adventure!!

Yesterday, the kids and I went to Splash Beach for the first time... they had a blast. They loved all the water and slides. Kaylyn got a little bored with the kiddy park so I took her to ride some real slides. This put me in a bit of a predicament, because Luke wasn't really tall enough to ride, but I didn't feel comfortable sending Kaylyn to wait in line and go up all those stairs carrying a big tube by herself. So, Luke and I went with her and I decided to try to ride with Luke anyway. They didn't even measure him, so he got to ride. He loved going down the big, curvy tube slides, he laughed the entire time. After that slide Kaylyn decided she wanted to go swim in the Lazy River, this totally freaked Luke out. I think he's got it backwards....loves the huge slides, but is scared to death of the lazy river?!

Showstoppers Dance Company Presents: K-12...

Last night we had Kaylyn's dance recital. She danced so well, as usual she was full of energy. She had to be full of energy to be able to dance through 2 shows in one day....that means a total of 4 costume changes and about 18 trips up and down the stairs to and from the dressing rooms, going to sit in the audience to watch a few songs, and then down those same stairs again, up the stairs to the backstage area to deliver her to the holding area, then running back to the audience so I can see her dance, then back to the backstage, back to the dressing room to change, so we can do it again. Whew! Me...I'm worn out. Let's just say I can't wait for the day when she can get herself changed into different costumes! I'm always glad to see recital day come and go, not only so I can see her dance one last time before the season is over, but also because it means we have a 2 1/2 month break. I also have some great video, but can't figure out how to get the DVD to upload....so if anyone knows how to do this, please enlighten me!
One of the mom's made all the girls signs with their name on it to hang outside of the dressing room. Pretty cool!
All dressed, make-up applied (complete with glitter eye-shadow and diamond studded fake eyelashes), hair styled, dancing shoes on, and ready to shake it!

Showing Off The Showstopper's Trophies...30 of them!

Yes....she's dancing in the lobby....

Waiting Backstage...

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing...

Sorry for the poor quality. My camera just does not like stage lights! ARRGGGHHH!

Dance Pics!!!

I got Kaylyn's dance pictures back tonight. She always loves when it's time to make dance pics because she gets to pose like a super star!! Dance recital is tomorrow!
This one is my fav.


Showin' some attitude! Typical Kaylyn!

And...Here's More Pics

Super Star!

I've Been Delaying This Post....

So, I've been delaying this post because I just really didn't know how to put what was going through my mind into words. This past week at work has been the most emotionally draining week I've had in the 9 years I've worked there. Last Saturday, the 6 year old son of a co-worker of mine made his journey to Heaven. We tried so hard to bring him back, but God had better plans for this little boy. I've seen this same scene many, many times over the years, and it's always heartbreaking, but when the loss of a child happens to one of your own, in your ER, it's almost unbearable. The death of any child is always hard, but for me, it's especially hard when the child is close to the age of one of my children...I guess it just hits a little too close to home. Please remember to keep the Peeks family in your prayers as they deal with this terrible tragedy. Also, please pray for my other co-workers who were at work that day working on him, we are all having a hard time dealing with this loss. Seeing the way everyone has pulled together to support each other and to offer support to this family makes me truly thankful for the group of people I work with. Each of us has a special calling for the job we do...if we didn't there is no way we could do this job.

I know...It's been a while...

Okay....I know I've been a bad blogger lately. The summer has started off very busy. School is hectic and very time consuming. I spend just about all of my off days and every night reading text books and sitting in front of the computer reading power-points. It's a good thing I like to read, although I can think of much more interesting stuff I'd like to be reading than Patho. Anyway, I'm weeding my way through it. I do like my Transition into Nursing class (I thought I did this 9 years ago, but whatever). It's pretty interesting, but has a lot of research I have to do. I spend a lot of time on Google. Oh well, 1/2 semester down....31/2 more to go!

Chris is puting hardwood flooring in my sunken den area, the only area in the house that didn't have hardwoods when we bought it. This has been an on-going project. First, he somehow didn't measure right, so he didn't buy enough wood and extra had to be ordered; we've been waiting for the past 2 weeks for it to get here. It finally came in last night, so he should finish that project by this weekend. My house has been turned upside down for the past 3 weeks and I'm ready for it to be back to normal. Still chaotic, but at least everything will be back where it belongs!

The kids are great. Luke is finally over his illness and has returned to his same old self again. He can't wait until August when he can go to "sissy's school." He will be going through the inclusive program at the Kaylyn's school (also my parent's school). Kaylyn went through this same program when she was his age and did great. She was well prepared for kindergarten when the time came. I can't believe he is old enough to be in big school. He will be turning 4 in July...can you believe that? My, how does the time fly so quickly? Anyway, he's pretty excited, but doesn't seem to understand that his best friend Hunter won't be coming to "sissy's school" with him....not sure how that transition will go.

Kaylyn is her usual perky self. She's in VBS this week and having a great time. Her dance recital is this Saturday at the BJCC. I think she and I both are ready for a break. Once the recital is over, no more dance until school starts back. Yeah!!

As far as our summer plans go, not much to speak of this year. Honestly, right now, we're just too busy. We will go to the beach in July for a few days, that will satisfy the kids. I also bought us some season passes to Alabama Adventure, so we'll probably be going there at least every couple of weeks.

Chloe will have her first visit to the speech clinic tomorrow and will get her hearing aids in a couple of weeks. She had the molds of her ears made last week, so when the molds come in, they will put her in hearing aids. Please continue to pray the hearing aids will work for her. She is growing so fast and changes every time I see her. She is such a happy baby, she just smiles and laughs all the time.

Well, I guess that's about it. I'll have some pics to put on here soon. I really just haven't been taking many pics lately, nothing happening to take pic of.....