Memorial Day Weekend

We started Saturday with swim lessons. Emma used the belt for the first time to swim alone. It was hard for her to get her legs kicking hard enough to keep up, but she was working at it! She really has to learn to balance while kicking and use her arms at the same time. Some of the kids have started going under water. Emma can't do that because of her ear tubes. I had to keep explaining that to her, but it was okay. I need to get her fitted for new ear plugs soon.

Anyway, after swim lessons we hit the road for Bells Island. My cousin, his wife and daughter were going to be there with some other friends and invited us to come. We taught the kids to use the head phones in the van on the way down. Bo and I wanted to listen to our beach music! They did pretty good! When we got closer we opened the sunroof and played Buffett and the girls were looking at all the water - it was so fun.

We had a beautiful day by the sound. The kids played in the pool with baby Adair. Emma wanted to get on the "ski." We really did a whole lot of nothing but lounge in the sun, swing, cooked out, had some adult drinks and simply relaxed. It was wonderful. We stayed later and had dinner and didn't leave until almost 7:30. The kids were beat!

Today was "regrouping day." I had about 10 loads of laundry to do, grocery shopping, cleaning, and some errands to run. Hannah and I ran the errands. After naps the girls had a birthday party to go to. They had so much fun since it was outside at a park. We don't know what our plans are tomorrow - beach? pool? Children's Museum? Water Country? Busch Gardens? Since we caught up on things today we will be sure to do something fun tomorrow! I love Memorial Day weekend! Yay for summer and only 14 more days of school!

having fun!

Emma on the "ski"

Emma chilling in a float and Hannah trying to join her

Hannah in the car going to dinner - too, too funny!

a sleepy Emma girl - she fell asleep holding her headphones!

Jimmy Buffett!!!

The past two weeks have been soooooooo long. After going through all of my medical concerns our school has also been going through SOL testing for the last two weeks. That means no resources, no recess - which means, no break for Mrs. Hamrick. It has been exhausting. Thank goodness we had Buffett to get to last night. Boy did I want a night out. Bo's mom was fabulous enough to come to VA and watch the girls all day Thursday, Thursday night and Friday morning. I left from work to go to my cousin's house to preparty since they live right by the VA Beach ampitheater. Bo, my sister, and brother in law met up there too. We all were parents with a night out and it felt great! I really could not think of a better way to kick off Memorial Day weekend and the summer than sitting with a margarita and listening to JB. We taxied over around 6:00, walked around, and hung out until it started. He played all of my favorite songs except Love and Luck.

Quotes of the night: "I saved your life!" and "Hey, you going to Great Neck?"

The funniest part of the night was us trying to get a cab home - it was craziness getting out of there! We had so much fun and didn't let a thing bother us. Yes, I did have to get up and go to work since my time was so messed up with me missing work for the medical issues, but it was okay. We all stayed the night at my cousin's house and they live near my school, so at least I slept late. I also had four kids absent today so it was pretty good! But, I am tired tonight!

We love you Jimmy Buffett! Thanks for coming back to VA Beach! It has only been 11 years! I am ready for summer! No teaching summer school, no grad school, no being pregnant! AND - I have summer help lined up for the kids!

Bo and April

Bo, me, April and Lindsay

me and Bo

our group

the crowd! crazy!

Wendell Weekend

Last weekend we went to Wendell for a family get together. Saturday was a big day for Bo's mom - a project she has been wanting to accomplish for the grandchildren. She needed updated portraits for Owen and Emma at the same age she has one of Gibby. We were all so nervous of how this photo session would go! However, it turned out great. Owen and Emma did fantastic - thank goodness Owen went first and showed Emma it was okay (she always gets nervous in unfamiliar places). Bo brought Hannah toward the end and I got some of the girls together - they are precious! I am so pleased with them. I will post the website when they are up - I have only seen the actual proofs as of this week.

On Sunday we were able to have lunch with some of Bo and Mary's childhood friends with their kids. It was so nice. Cindy and Jackie prepared a delicious lunch. I was still recuperating a bit from last week and still had some uncomfortable moments. But, I hung in there. It was a nice weekend with lots of laughs and fun. We spent a lot of time outside! The kids were all precious as usual and we just love seeing them have fun together.

*Big thanks to Mary for the pictures!

Go Hannah!

Go Emma!

Owen and Emma

Emma with her ice cream

kid table #1

kid table #2

Hannah and Abby

some precious, precious kids

Update

Good news - I found out last Wednesday (May 18th) that all of my test results show no signs of cancer. I just have a few more doctors to see about treatment and hopefully everything will be fine. I will still need the breast surgery and will get that done sometime this summer.

What. A. Relief.

Questions Unanswered

It all started last Wednesday afternoon at an annual doctors appointment. Let's just say I left with two potential forms of cancer to get checked out. I am not going to go into too much detail, but I had a mammogram/ultra sound Thursday morning and Friday I had surgery to get some areas to send off to biopsy. The ultra sound showed a benign tumor. I do have to get it removed this summer. I won't find out the other results until this Wednesday. Bo has been out of town since Thursday morning - of course when all of this went down. I have been at my mom and dad's house recuperating. They have been such a help with the girls. I am getting around better and did make it to work today.

The girls have been having a lot of fun. The weekend was not too exciting because of my condition. Thanks to my sister, Emma did make it to swimming lessons. I went and watched and she did a great job - especially jumping in the pool on cue. Saturday evening we were all on the screened porch. It started pouring down rain - no thunder/lightening. Emma was dying to go out in the rain. She said, "but mama, I have on my helmet!" Yes, she put on her bike helmet and thought that because she had that on, she could go out in the rain. It was so funny. So, after the rain stopped both of the girls wanted to go splash in the puddles - why not. Here is a picture I took with my camera phone really quick. They loved it! After a few minutes, we went directly to the bathtub - they were covered in mud! I was just in that "who cares" mood - and it felt great.

Sunday I got out of the house for a few with my parents and the girls went to BJ's, lunch and to Toys R Us. Both of the girls have now started a Dora phase. They wanted to get some Dora characters and PopPop spoiled them at Toys R Us. We all took naps when we got back to mom and dads. After that I was feeling sore and had the worst time with pain that I had had since having the procedure - I was also out of pain meds! But, I made it through and tonight I am feeling much better.

**Another thing funny that happened this weekend was Saturday during lunch. My mom asked the girls, "Who's hungry, it's time for lunch?" Hannah said, "Hannah is!" and proceeded to go inside for lunch! She is too funny. Hannah is unstoppable with talking now. She says so much and catches on to things to easily because of watching Emma.

Mothers Day!!!

I have been asking E and H about my presents for a week. They kept telling me I was getting a book and a Minnie bowl - I think they are still hooked on Christmas! Anyway, they gave me very sweet cards when we were all up in the morning. I got my annual spa gift card to use as wanted and then they gave me a beautiful framed poem with their handprints. I already hung it on the wall by my side of the bed so I can see it every morning.

After getting ready we went to church. The girls gave me carnations at church. We went to lunch with my dad's mom and my cousin, wife and daughter who was dedicated in church today. My dad had to work unfortunately. We got some pictures outside of the restaurant. Then, we came back to our house with my mom and sister's family to give my mom her presents. When things started to wind down Bo was like, "I was wonder if they are having mothers day sales on tv's."

When everyone left he went to Best Buy and came back with a new 55 inch tv, new cabinet (had to be ordered) and a Blue Ray player. The tv also has 3D capability whenever you want it, including regular channels. It is pretty awesome. I am not quite sure how that happened on Mother's Day - but really, the time was coming. Our tv had about had it- we bought one of the very first flat screens when we first got married - almost 7 years ago!

So, overall it was a very nice day. I got to relax some and have enjoyed watching my shows on the new tv tonight.

One more bit I would like to add is that I really think it is important to think of young women who are desiring so hard to be mothers. Years ago, this day was very hard on me. It hurt me to see all of the moms honored in church, the "new" mom's recognized, the "mommy to be" and "first Mothers Day" cards in Hallmark. I really don't think people realize how hard it can be to actually become a mom. It is so easy for some, yet others have to wait so long and so patiently. There are certain friends of mine that I have been thinking a lot about and how easily I can relate to their feelings on a day like today.

I love being a mommy and I love my girls more than anything. I have come a long way from my fertility issues but I also have a baby that I never got to meet. I think about that baby a lot on Mothers Day. Thank you Emma and Hannah for making my life complete! Thank you also to my mom - for the support, love, encouragement and kindness you bring to us and to the people around you. I hope you all had a nice Mothers Day!

my babies

Emma giving me a hug

moms and kids!

me and my mommy!

the poem and handprints from the girls

Drew's Graduation

Friday I took off work at noon to get on the road for my cousin's graduation from Radford University. It is a five hour drive there but it was so nice! Bo said he would stay home with the girls so I could enjoy the time with my family and be there for my cousin. When Drew was born I thought I was old enough to take care of him on my own. I remembered helping my aunt with him often by entertaining him, feeding him, putting his shoes on, etc. He was "my baby" when I was at my aunt's house. I cannot believe that he is now a college graduate and I am so happy for him! We had fun celebrating with some other family members Friday night. Saturday the weather was perfect and then we went back to his apartment for some food and drinks. We were back home Saturday around 7:30 at night. Congrats Drew! We are so proud of you!

looking good Drew!

whole fam pic

cousins pic

Drew and his cake- love Brandon and mom in the background!

me and Drew

Busy, Fun, Saturday

I guess this Saturday was Emma and Hannah day. It started out with me oversleeping and almost missing our first swim lesson - oopsy! The lesson starts at 8:30 and I woke from my slumber at 8:08. It is never a good thing when the first word out of your mouth when you wake up is, "S%$@!"

I threw on my suit and Bo woke up E and got her ready. Luckily I had her things ready and we live right down the road. She ate a doughnut in the car and we strolled in right at 8:32! Emma was awesome at her swim lesson! Her little friend Ally was also in the class and they were having so much fun. She kicked her legs, blew bubbles and practiced floating. She even jumped in from sitting and standing position. I swim with her and am right there but she did so good! Being in my rush, I forgot my camera and forgot to get her picture. My friend Lindsay and I took the kids to Chick Fil A breakfast afterwards and let them play.

Then, after getting ready it was time to go see Barney Live!! Emma wanted to eat lunch at Red Robin first and so we went there. Barney Live was precious. They sang their favorite songs and it was staged very cute. Emma was more in awe while Hannah was hyped up. But, they were allowed to get up and dance right along with the show. We were right in front of the stage and the characters came down and shook hands. We left with two Barney wands, two balloons, a large bag of cotton candy and they ate snow cones there. What a fun afternoon they had. My kids love to sing and dance and this show is perfect for kids that like to do just that. So many people say negative things about this show. I really don't get it. The new shows are adorable and I have yet to find a show with better songs.

They both fell asleep on the way home. That evening was not so great when they were tired and whiney, but they were in bed by 8:00 and Bo and I got Knight and Day On Demand - really good movie.

We had such a fun day!

waiting to go inside

Hannah Boo with her wand

me and the girls in front of the stage

waiting with Emma

when he first came on stage

yea!!

this is when he shook their hands

watching intently

this face is priceless - so worth every minute and every penny (even a $5.00 balloon)

so much fun

"how can I open this cotton candy?"

This Week

Well, I barely went back to work after spring break. Last weekend we had the two ER visits with Hannah, then Monday evening Emma came down with a fever. We have not been sick in so long! I just knew it was going to be the ears again, since they are now both in the time frame for their tubes to fall out. Emma did not have a good night Monday night, so I took off work on Tuesday and took her to the pediatrician. Luckily, the tubes were still there and she did not see a sign of strep. But, that meant we had to give it time for the fever to break. Mom kept Hannah for me and I brought Emma home. Sweet thing fell asleep on the couch and slept for about three and a half hours. Because mom had Hannah I was able to get a lot done around the house. I put away Easter, switched some more of my summer clothes in my closet, put things away from my shopping spree on Saturday, folded laundry, etc. Bo picked Hannah up on the way home and then Emma was doing much better. However, Wednesdays are when they go to Beth's house and I did want to expose her children to whatever Emma had. My mom also works on Wednesdays, Bo's mom was not feeling too well and Bo had a big meeting, so, I took off Wednesday too to keep her home and make sure her fever was broken. I also had rescheduled for the installers to come put my new bathroom floors in on Wednesday since I was now going to be home. So, that worked out great.

Wednesday the girls were great. They were more still than normal because of all of the noise the installers made putting in the new floors. Emma was feeling better and eating again. So, whatever she had went away pretty quickly, thank goodness. My new floors look great too! Another thing checked off my list!

Thursday I went back to work but my mom did NOT have a good day with the girls! They are not perfect by any means, and they do have their days when they argue ALL DAY. Today Hannah pulled Emma's hair and got a time out. The weather was also very unstable here and my mom was nervous about that. She actually packed the kids up and took them to my dad's mom's house where she has a basement. I took off two hours early and went there too because I did not want to be driving home in the bad weather and thought it would also help my mom out with them being there. Thankfully, all of the severe weather stayed south of us and then moved east and we got nothing. Bo and I took the kids to Chick Fil A that night for kids night.

Finally, I went back to work for a whole day on Friday!!! Bo had a softball game Friday night but the bugs were awful! They were getting all in hannah's hair and it was disgusting, and we had on bugspray. Bo said he had never seen the bugs so bad. So, I took the kids to my sister's house nearby and we hung out there with her and baby Andy for awhile. We drove back to pick up Bo and Emma says, "no bugs mommy, no bugs!!" She is just like me for the world. When we got home I was replaying some of the Royal Wedding and the girls were watching. I thought it was something I could show them later and say, "look, you watched this when you were a little girl!" What a wedding - I woke up at 5:15 am and started watching but I wanted to see it all again.

What. A. Week!

Outside Fun

Here are some pictures of the girls earlier in the week playing outside! They were having so much fun. Then, we had popsicles! I love the cool evenings right now. It is such perfect weather.