Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Re-invention

So this week begins another change in our lives.  I was offered and accepted a full time nursing coordinator night shift position.  These jobs don't come around very often (the person who left it had been a nursing coordinator for 24 years!)  24!  So she started when I was 6?!?  So I am really thankful and awed to be here!  It is interesting to see how it all worked out at the right time-so God!   I had just gone back to full time, I had just been thinking that I should go to night shift full time next year when Robert starts K and then all of a sudden here is a full time night shift coordinator job.  It is bitter sweet to give up floor nursing; but more and more I was feeling stretched too thin-too many different jobs and different skill sets to keep up with.  Being moved from unit to unit, job to job, shift to shift.  So I think this will be better for now.  AND the other full time person wants to work mainly weekends so I am pretty much off weekends!  There will be some times when I'll need to work 7p-11p on Sunday so she can go to evening church, especially until they hire someone to do the day a week that I did.  Thankfully Lori wants the overtime for now so she is doing 4 days a week :)

The kids are still doing well with full time daycare/preschool.  They come home with paintings and projects galore.  The last 2 weeks they did apples-apple people made of apple cores and Popsicle sticks, apple trees with toilet paper tube trunks, apples made of small paper plates painted, apple paintings with a little worm stuck on it and the favorite-apple pizza!  It appears that this week is about leaves-when I picked them up Monday they were water coloring leaf cut outs.  They have such a good time! 

We started the kids on allowance last week and that has made a huge difference in potty training and behavior.  They each have a list of tasks to preform and then can pick a prize at the end of the day; a quarter for a bigger toy, a small "squinkie".
http://www.amazon.com/Squinkies-Bubble-Pack-Series-One/dp/B003LQU12M/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285766107&sr=8-1
One of Mary's "tasks" is to stay dry at home and to stay dry at school.  And since we've started she has done much better!  Especially at home!  She even made it though the weekend home with Wesley dry!  They are also picking up their dishes, putting their clothes in the basket, picking up toys, and Robert dresses himself.  Ahh, bliss!

More later I hope...

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

BEACH TRIP! Part 1

Thursday
It took us a long time to get past Verona-first we overslept and didn’t leave til 9.  Then we blew a tire at the very beginning.  Wesley ended up going with Roger to get it fixed and then we had to take the camper to the place and get all the rest repaired.  Sigh.  We had lunch at Verona and left there a little past 12!  We made it to Oregon inlet that night at about 8 pm.  The kids eventually went to sleep as did we.  Daisy freaked out over something she thought was thunder and was so annoying we finally stuck her in the bathroom where she spent the night. 

Fri 
We finally made it to Ocracoke about luchtime on Fri.  The trip over was perfect.  Mary slept on the way to the ferry and hung out with grandma and grandpa on the trip over.  Robert spent most of the trip with them so I took Sammy (one of their pugs) and then Sammy and Robert while Wesley hung out with Daisy and Snoopy slept.  Daisy has decided to be a lap dog and appears to be a little motion sick if you make her hang out in the floor of the back seat. Snoopy hangs out in her bed in the cargo area of the trooper.  After rest time and some quiet play (play dough, snap n style, Mr potato head) I took the kids to the beach for an hour while Wesley showered etc.  We played in the water, dug in the sand and collected shells.  We went out to the Jolly Roger for supper and Mary fell asleep on the way and slept until our food was almost ready to come out (and I woke her up).  She did end up eating a good supper and came home and went to sleep OK.  We have them sleeping together in the double bed up front-one each direction.

Sat:
Today was such a fun day.  I’ve really enjoyed spending time with the kids now that I don’t do it all the time.  This morning Robert hooked up with a little boy who unfortunately was leaving.  He and Sawyer had the best time riding bikes and playing together.  After they left Roger and I took Robert to the beach where we played for an hour.  Mary stayed with “wamma” (grandma) and they took care of the dogs and read books.  Robert was completely drenched by the end.  He ran through the waves, hunted shells, built sandcastles, dug in the sand.  It was great.  We came home for lunch and rest and rested until about 4 pm.  At 5 pm the 4 of us went to the beach and I played with Mary.  Her favorite thing is crumbling the hard pieces of sand between her fingers-oh and getting her feet buried!  Then the kids and I played and Mary took a bucket of shells and “left for work” and Robert and I created Ocracoke as sandcastle and built a ferry channel and Hatteras and a bridge and the mainland.   Roger had supper ready by the time I got the kids out of the shower-roasted pork loin, sliced regular and sweet potatoes cooked in foil and I made a salad.  Wesley and I took turns showering and then I washed some dishes and took the dogs for a walk.  Robert has been riding bikes all the time and has been straying a little to talk to his friends.  He went with me and the huge group of boy scouts already knew him by name, lol.  Snoopy took off running-she is having a great time and I’m glad we took them.  Having Daisy here is helping-Snoopy stays calmly in the camper with her which is so nice.  So now I’m listening to the surf  on one side and Mary on the other.  She’s alternately singing (Mary had a little lamb), making dog-dog play “taper, taper” (a French singing/motion game) and just now informed us that dog-dog pooped “oh dog-dog” she said in a most indignant tone. Wesley and I are silently cracking up.  These kids are certainly something!  As are the mosquitoes.  I haven’t been bit so much since, well the last time we were here, lol.

Sunday
Sunday dawned rainy and windy so we went to our favorite breakfast spot; the Pony Island.  We finally got the kids to eat-it took a while for some reason.  Wesley and I had salsa cheese eggs, we got them a pizza English muffin and fruit to split.  Then we did some shopping at the pirate’s chest. We got Robert a pirate playset which he has been playing with ever since.  Roger and Peggy let them pick out some pirate coins and jewels which have been perfect in the pirate chest.  We then went to a toy shop/gift shop where Peggy had seen a sand cupcake making set.  So I got that J  It is so much fun.  It works well with play dough too.  Our family came home for a sandwich lunch and then Robert and I took the dogs for a walk and then grandpa showed him how to fly a kite and then we tried Robert without training wheels but that didn’t go over well.  Roger took Robert to the beach while I read a while and then we hung out and made supper.  We were going to go back to the beach but the weather (which had cleared up pretty nicely by mid afternoon and was not raining but overcast before that) turned yucky again so we played pirates and watched “baby Robert” until bedtime.  The wind continued to beat around all night.

Monday
We made breakfast (eggs and sausage) and then headed to the beach for a couple hours.  We had such a good time.  Wesley and I were able to swim some, Robert splashed in the lapping waves (Mary is not really a fan), we made sand cupcakes, sandcastles etc. And just hung out.  Wesley and Roger picked up some seafood for lunch so we had that with leftover chicken, hotdogs and hamburgers from earlier meals and shells and cheese-yum.  Now Mary is napping, Wesley is resting and Robert and I are outside under Roger and Peggy’s canopy.  Robert technically is playing pirates but he’s doing so very slowly.  We took the dogs for a walk and washed dishes and got some lemonade.  All’s right with the world!  I hate to go back tomorrow…

After rest time we went shopping again-it was super duper hot and sunny so I didn't want Mary out in it, then out for a seafood supper and home for bed.





Tuesday

Home again.  It took 12 hours to get home-left the campground at 8:30, just got to the dock to catch the 9 am ferry.  We stopped briefly at the Body Island lighthouse (they are working on it and there is scaffolding all over it) and at a monstor truck thing which even had a petting zoo!  The kids were super good it was just a long day.  We got home about 8:15 and got the kids to bed, unpacked some... luckily I've been on call 3a-7a

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Mary Update and...well...life

Mary's appointment went really well.  She is down to just a sleeve, not a whole compression shirt.  And just that until Jan they think.  It's just her left upper arm that needs compression now.  It's so strange to see her without a compression shirt!  We had a good day together.  It was a long day and we waited a long time for both appointments.  We were able to meet up with a virtual friend from the parenting board I spend a lot of time on and that was great!  She had offered to help while Mary was in the hospital but it was so crazy and I was such a mess I never took her up on it.  We met up at the mall and had lunch and then played at the kids play area there for a while and chatted.  Then Mary and I went to toys r us and then to our next appointment.  It was so hot but I had cash and got drinks from the soda machine and that really helped.  She slept all the way home and still went to bed at 8 (we got home at 6:45).

Snoopy isn't doing very well.  She wakes up at night panting (which wakes me up), is more lethargic.  She seems a little better on her antibiotics, less puddles etc.  But she HATES this round of antibiotics.  It takes forever to get them into her.  Thankfully it;s just once a day for 10 days.  I think we're at the beginning of the end and it is tearing me up.  I've never done this before and I'm not sure how to handle it.  I guess we'll know when the time is right to let her go. I know it's not yet.  And I am thankful that we have Daisy. Even though it is more work and chaos having her here helps.  We're taking them both to the beach next week and that should be good.  I think it will be Snoopy's last trip.

And lastly, there is a full time coordinator (night shift) position open.  I think I've decided to take it but we're ironing out details.  At the beginning it was that the other full time coordinator wanted to work every fri-sat-sun.  Then I heard a few min ago that she wants 2 Sundays a month off.  I guess we'll need to work out a schedule and see how it goes.  I hope she means Sun nights, not sat nights! It it's Sat night that will be hard to do.

The kids have been cute recently.  I went on a shopping spree today (or should I call it retail therapy)?  Robert had asked for light up shoes and I found him light up toy story shoes for $15.  I also picked him up 2 more toy story t shirts and I found 2 lego shirts that came with tiny lego sets.  I have them put away for later.  I got Mary a pair of light up shoes too and a helmet and some clearance clothes for next year and an outfit for fall.  I also stocked them up on socks (both) and underwear (Robert).  I told Robert when I picked him up today that I had a surprise.  He decided that he needed to go sit on the couch and close his eyes and so he did.  Well he was SO excited (as was Mary).  It was very cute.  He loves them.  He then decided that we needed to go swimming so I set up the pool.  Of course it was COLD so they didn't last long!  Mary is doing well with potty training with just the occasional accident.  She takes tender loving care of the babies, especially Amy (the bitty baby).  Well, I'm falling asleep so more later...