What. A. Week.

We decided to evacuate for hurricane Irene. We left Friday and went to Raleigh. When VA Beach started to evacuate we knew it was time for us to go. I did not want to be without power with two kids at home and not know when it would come back on. Of course Bo was out of town so I had to pack everyone by myself. I did go to work Friday and luckily Bremer, our college sitter, was available to help me with the girls. My mom, sister and grandmother had already evacuated to Salem, Va. So, after work I drove the girls to Raleigh and Bo had to meet us there. It was windy and rainy in Raleigh and we enjoyed the day being lazy. We did venture to Target later in the evening when the rain stopped. We just needed to "get out" for awhile.

lazy day at nana and dadoo's

playing dress up

Of course I spent a lot of time keeping up with people at home and what was going on at home. My dad and brother in law stayed home. My mom had some minor damage to her home with some siding that flew off. Her screen porch was also covered in mud. My dad said he had never seen such strong wind and heavy rain. He even had to go to my other grandmother's house because her window actually blew out. So, he had to board it up during the hurricane! Everyone lost power of course.

We all came home Sunday after chuch. The trees and power lines were a mess as we drove more East. Some roads were closed due to the lines down, but our route was okay. Thankfully, power had been restored by the time we were home. We found some water damage at our back door and in Emma's room upstairs. We immediately had to report it to our insurance company. Although we had power, we have not had cable, internet or phone until TONIGHT. So, that is why I am so behind on blogging.

My grandmother had to stay the night with us Sunday night since she still did not have power, nor my mom and dad and several other relatives. So, we were the lucky ones. We just couldn't watch tv! Monday we were out of school, which is the worst week ever for teachers to be out. We lost an entire day of working in our rooms to prepare for the school year.

The rest of the week has been normal at work. The LMS position has so many rewards but I have been extremely busy. I had to sit in on 5 interviews today for paraprofessional positions. I also have been preparing to give my copyright staff development to the teachers. I have checked all new material into the computer system, labeled and shelved them. I have started working on plans, but I dont get students until the 19th, so I have more time to focus on that later. Today I worked on distributing technology to the teachers. They each need their Elmo's, interwrite pads, remotes, calculators, listening centers, etc. And.....of course the laminator broke today so I had to make my first call into our service technician!

I have also had to start bulletin boards and organize a "new book" area for our parent meet and greet tomorrow. So............busy, yes......wonderful, yes!! I would not trade it for anything so far.
Plus, my commute has been averaging 6-8 mins from my mom's house after dropping off the girls. I also get to see the girls in the morning, which Iam not used to at all during the school year!

I will post pics of my library and office after I feel it is "ready."

We also have a big day for Emma tomorrow! We have her teacher meet and greet at preschool! She is so excited!

It's a Jolly Holiday for Emma!

Emma's love for Mary Poppins began with a Disney Sing Along video. She started singing the songs and dancing to the Mary Poppins scenes. So, a few weeks later I bought her the actual movie. She has watched it all the way through and knows all the words to every song now. She even copies the dance that the penguins do. My mom has bought her lots of Mary Poppins things via the Internet since there is nothing Mary Poppins in stores. She has books, puzzles, a doll, etc. One time a lady at a restaurant asked her what her name was. She said "Mary Poppins." She adores Mary Poppins and when asking her what kind of birthday she wanted there was no doubt that she would want a Mary Poppins party. I steered away from this idea for several weeks because the party theme would be so difficult. I asked her if she would rather have Dora, Tinkerbell, ballerina, anything but Mary Poppins - it is just too hard!!!! But, she never let the idea go and planning this party has been super hard. However, with the help of Etsy, Ebay, several other websites and my mother it was done!

The party was absolutely perfect. Emma was so excited and Hannah loved all of the action too. My mom made them both a Mary Poppins "summer" dress. They were so adorable. This was the best birthday for Emma because she understood why she was having a party, knew everyone there, said "thank you for coming" and "thank you" for each present, she was not shy, and she is smiling in every single picture. She came over to me near the end of the party, hugged my leg and said, "thank you mommy." It brought tears to my eyes singing happy birthday to her and even now thinking of her being so happy. She is growing up so fast - starting real preschool, starting dance class, moving on with swim lessons, and just learning and absorbing so much. She is the sweetest little girl and brings us more happiness than anyone can ever imagine. This party was a ton of work, but it was worth it to look at these pictures. Happy Birthday Emma - love you so, so much! (Please see Facebook for more pics - there are just too many!)

Emma's cake

Spoonfulls of Sugar!

straws for the kids

sidewalk chalk to play

kites above the pool

Emma's sign

all the kids got to stuff their own penguin

Emma with her cake

Emma with her carousel

my parents and the girls

us four

Emma's present from mommy and daddy

my best friend dressed her son as Bert!

presents!

Emma and her friends and family

stuffing penguins

Emma and daddy

Bo, the girls and Bo's parents

singing "Happy Birthday"

Emma with her great grandmother - Mammie

Past Few Days

Mom and I picked the girls up on Thursday afternoon. On the way home Emma fell right to sleep and Hannah wanted me to take pictures of everyone, including her lamb. I felt so bad for mom since she had to drive both ways. I was not able to drive yet.

lamby

As far as the surgery I am moving around. I am bruised but feel fine. I just cannot turn, bend down and lift things very well. I still can't pick up the girls. It was hilarious trying to explain that to them the night they got back home. Emma said, "mommy's boobie hurts." Then she asked me questions like, "can you shower?" "can you dry your hair?" "can you get dressed?" I don't know what prompted her to ask those questions but they were pretty good questions and she seemed to understand that there are things I cannot do and things that are okay for awhile.

Friday was more errands for the party, again with my mom driving us around. My poor mom dropped us off and went home. Later that evening she was on her laptop in the den and heard an awful noise. Her entire cabinet in the kitchen fell, breaking every single dish including her Christmas dishes. It was an awful mess and my aunt, cousin and sister were able to get there fast enough to help out. I felt so bad I could not help out after all she had done for me.

Today I went to our clubhouse and cleaned up a little for our "Mary Poppins" birthday party tomorrow. I set some some tables and chairs. Bo and Emma did some last minute errands to get food and pick up our Chick Fil A orders. Mom came over with the cake and then she stayed to watch the girls while Bo and I got ready for a wedding. One of my favorite girls I worked with at Georgetown was getting married and I had been looking foward to her wedding since the day she got engaged. I am going to miss working with her so much. But, we did have a very nice time and she was gorgeous.

E and H hanging out this morning

Hannah put her whole cup in her applesauce - ughhhhh, the things she does

we clean up well

me and Rachel

amazing former colleagues

Mom and the girls made "spoons full of sugar" for the party with hardened chocolate. My dad also delivered the carousel horse so the girls had plenty of fun without us tonight.

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making "spoonfulls of sugar" with Gaga

working hard

PopPop bringing the carousel

Emma's turn

Hannah's turn

We are super excited for Emma's party tomorrow! She was up when we got home and I said, "are you too excited to sleep?" She said, "yeah, I'm too excited." We hope it is a very "jolly holiday" tomorrow :)

Surgery/Post Op

So.....surgery went well. I was quickly checked in and taken back to pre op. I was my usual cranky self as I am before surgery. I do not do well not being in control of something and I hate being "a patient." I hate being told what do to and asked a million questions only to have to repeat the answers to those questions again and again. As soon as they gave me the drugs they wheeled me back. I remember going into the OR and being moved to the table, but the next thing I knew I was waking up. The rest of the day I slept. Bo got me dinner and a snack and we watched "Something Borrowed" on Demand. (It was not that good). I was feeling good on the pain meds. My mom and dad stopped by later and that was about all. The pain intensified a little later, but it was never as bad as I was expecting.

Today I have just been sore. I cannot lift my right arm or turn around, twist my body, etc. very quickly. I just feel bruised but I have not even taken a pain pill today. I showered on my own and my mom picked me up since I can't drive (Bo had to go out of town) and I met a friend at a movie. We saw "The Help" and it was wonderful, but I definately recommend reading the book first. It follows the plot of the book very closely and the production and casting was fantastic. Later my mom and I went to Kohls to get some fall clothes for the girls and she brought me back to their house.

The girls are still in Raleigh having fun. I asked Hannah if she was having fun and she said, "suuuuurrree." They went to Marbles yesterday and hung out and played today. Mom and I are going to pick them up tomorrow afternoon.

picture that Cindy sent: Emma and Hannah at Nana and Dadoo's house watering the plants

Anyway, I am doing fine and glad the lump is gone. It has been sent to pathology and I will get the details on that in about two weeks. However, my doctor said by looking at it, it is benign and I should be just fine!

Portraits

When I met Bo's mom tonight to get the girls she brought me my portraits I had ordered a few months ago. They were too big to scan but here are what they look like on the wall. I think they are beautiful!

Busy, Busy

The past week and a half has been.....busy. Last Sunday I kept nursery at church for Hannah's class. We went out to lunch with Joey, Dawn and their kids. They were helping us plan our Disney trip. When we got home we saw that our hot water heater was leaking, which was fabulous. Needless to say later in the week we got a new hot water heater installed.

I went to lunch and a movie with my dear friend Carrie on Tuesday. We saw Crazy, Stupid Love. It was really good and I loved spending some time with her.

Wednesday the girls went to Beth's because I had my surgery consultation. My mom went with me and after that we went to the mall and did some great retail therapy to get my mind off of the surgery. I got some new fall clothes for me and the girls and also got a dress to wear to my friend's wedding this coming weekend. I also got to visit another dear friend of mine who was in the hospital this week. I took her some magazines and got to talk with her for a few.

Thursday the 11th was my aunt's birthday. There were 24 of us eating together and we had a nice dinner out with lots of family. Here are some pics of the girls from that night but the rest are on my mom's camera.

Friday the 12th I had to take Emma for her ENT appointment. Her doctor said her ears look fabulous and the tubes are still in place. That was great news. That night Bo and I watched a movie that we had never got a chance to see - The Ugly Truth. We both thought it was pretty funny.

Saturday the 13th was my sister's birthday. Because her husband had to work my mom kept Andy and the rest of us and Joey, Dawn and their kids went to Water Country. We had a really good time but then it started raining around 2:00. The girls went on some pretty big water slides in the riding tubes and then one ride in the family tube. They did a good job for their first time and we all had a lot of fun. Bo's and my movie night that night was Jumping the Broom. It was not good - I do not recommend it.

Hannah's first slide

us the Kelly coming out of Big Daddy Falls!!

Emma and Aunt Lindsay

Drew, Joey, Connor and Lindsay coming off of Big Daddy Falls

Sunday we celebrated Lindsay's birthday with our family and Robbie, April and Adair. We had lunch and mom's and then did some cleaning out at our family's old country store. The store belonged to my Great Grandfather and sadly it has to be torn down because it is not up to city code anymore. It is going to be very sad to see it torn down in a few months. So, all of us went in and got the things that meant something to us. Later that night we went to Outback.

So......today, finally, the 15th the girls, mom and I did some birthday shopping at Party City for Emma's birthday. We got the plates, napkins, balloons, etc. Her party is starting to come together! I have received shipments from all over the US this past week on things I have ordered for our "Mary Poppins" party. I am waiting on one more shipment though!! Bo and I took the girls halfway to Raleigh tonight to meet his mom and grandma. The girls went happily with them to "Camp Nana and Dadoo" for three days while I have my surgery and recovery time. I go in tomorrow morning at 6AM. I am so thrilled to spend my last couple of days of summer recovering from surgery. Hopefully I will be okay after a day or two because I have some more things to get done in the library this week and for E's party. Plus - obviously I need to get my hair appointment in.

I should be fine - the lump is too big to have a needle biopsy, which is what I was hoping for. Instead they need to remove the entire thing plus the cells around it, which requires sutures. At least I will have some pain meds :)

It has been real quiet here tonight. Bo and I had a late dinner at Olive Garden and then we went to Verizon to figure out what new phone I want since my upgrade is good in a few days! I'll check back when my surgery is over!