Mommy's home and all are well.....

Okay, maybe well isn't the appropriate word -how about all survived!!

Seriously....going through my Mom's house was easier than I had expected. My brother and I tackled it for 4 days straight. We have all sentimental items and all trash OUT. The rest needs to be donated or sold at the flea market. ---Mom had a serious addiction to thrift stores...

I got to visit our old neighbor over dinner one night and spent a day with my Aunt Boo (my Mom's baby sis) which was wonderful for both of us as we both miss Mom dearly and we both remind each other of Mom. I even dropped in to my old childhood neighbor's work place to say hello...haven't seen her since I was 16!! I also got to catch up one evening with my cousin which was great. It was a busy and emotional time- my Mom's cat is still living there?!?!? She asked us to catch him and take him to this person to get him a new home, but he was scared and upset about Mom leaving and such we never were able to catch him. We told her we were taking care of it and I felt TERRIBLE not being able to physically take care of it! This tore me up, I so badly wanted to bring him home---problem was, he was happy and healthy right where he is at. It was great to see he's living well either on his own or being fed by a neighbor and actually being taken care of!! By the way I didn't get my beach fix....Larry doesn't understand this part as we did eat dinner at this place on the beach...I didn't get sand in between my toes or salt in my hair :)

Poor Larry had a rough week! The kids did not offer any breaks at all! I left on Easter and they had a nice evening without me. Monday went well. Kimberlyn had started complaining of her ear hurting her and had started running a fever the day before so he got her an appointment for the next morning. Just when all seemed well and he was pulling out a pizza from the oven and Tommy tried to assist! Tommy has a 2nd degree burn on his hand. They soaked his hand in a glass of ice water thanks to my brother's advice (handy having a paramedic to ask for ideas)-- Tommy calmed down and slept well, but woke with his hand MUCH worse- Thankfully he got Kimberlyn's appointment for the early morning.
The doctor instructed Larry on how to bandage his hand and care for the burn and they all went home to bed. Larry was not feeling well around this time too.
Wednesday the dogs ran away....like AWAY!! The next day he called after finding them...he sounded like a tape player...

The dogs are found,
safe and sound,
35 miles from our town!

Finally he explained a worker at the apartments behind our home was getting off and it was cold and raining so he loaded up the "lost" dogs and took them home....35 miles away! We are very thankful he did this and kept them safe for us!

Then Friday as everyone is on the anxious countdown until my return Kimberlyn must have gotten bored eating cubed ham for lunch and shoved a piece up her nose. Larry tried sucking it out with this "vacuum aspirator" Tommy was discharged with back in January...and all he managed to get was blood...so off he went LAUGHING his way to the ER- I was laughing at this point too! Sad thing is when they got there and teh waiting room was full the nurse told him not to worry she'd have no wait as she was the first REAL emergency of teh day as the risk of this ham getting into her lung or airway...not a laughing matter!? They got it out and we hope and pray she's learned a good lesson!

The next day Tommy woke with a high fever...and still had it along with a very decreased eating pattern this morning. He saw the doctor who couldn't find any reason for the fever....you can probably guess it...blood work??!?!? I get to the lab and they say it'll be a 15-20 minute wait...great I thought I'm going to be late getting Kimberlyn from school. Nope, it was ordered STAT I guess the doc was a bit more worried than I realized... Praise God the results are normal. I'm just praying the blood culture doesn't grow anything now and that his fever goes away SOON! The burn is healing well and is not infected which was a concern due to the high fever. His throat is red and irratated, so it must be a viral bug of some sort.


Even with all this chaos...it's WONDERFUL to be back home! Larry gave me a good laugh last night while talking to a classmate during a recall saying he had a "relaxing spring break" --I was being shushed with hand motions as I was laughing and disagreeing....after he hung the phone up he told me it was more relaxing than his classes and schoolwork?!?!? OH MY!!

Happy Easter!!

We've had a busy and very fun spring break. We have had a wonderful Easter morning that started at 6:03 am (actually Robby tried starting it at 5:30) -what's with this weather?? It's 21 degrees out right now, the Easter Bunny was nice and hid eggs indoors for us and we cranked up the fireplace too! I planned on updating more pictures as we went through the week of fun...to the museum, the zoo, dying Easter eggs and such. I'll get to it soon...after I return home from cleaning out my Mom's house with my brother.
Please pray for Larry as he holds done the fort (and kids) for the week, for the kids to handle me being gone so many nights, for me to have strength during this week and to not lose sleep while being away from the kids. We'll have lots of phone calls for sure!

Spring Break....

I personally like how it used to be "Easter Vacation" as THAT is why we take a break to celebrate He has risen right??

So Day 1-

What a day....we had FUN. We went to get pictures done as Tommy SHOULD have turned one last week and I came across the most sweet dresses for the girls for Easter....WHY not do an Easter picture!?

Then lunch at the mall food court....wonderful EVERYONE gets to eat what they want :)

Followed by a trip into Build-a-Bear Workshop to make a new friend.

Can't forget about the cute Easter Bunny visit, which was conveniently stationed near the cookie shop, so we had a nice afternoon snack before heading home!



PS here's your sneak peek at the pictures we had done....different poses, same attire!

Tommy's Slide

So on Saturday I went to sell Kimberlyn's old toddler bed to the resale shop Once Upon a Child....man it's a win/win deal for them....I sell them something, they mark it up and THEN I buy something else while dropping off my stuff for them to buy??

Seriously, all of our toddler type outdoor toys and things were bought at yardsales and served their time through the three older kids. Tommy needs a few things his size around here. They had an almost new Little Tikes toddler slide for $15. I snatched it up as soon as I dropped off the bed! I later went online and saw that that thing retails for $40 on their website! I was so excited about stumbling upon that deal!

Same as when I got Robby's first slide, Dad said he was too young and Robby climbed up and slid down....Tommy did the same. He needs to have a spotter, ya know somebody ready to catch him so he doesn't totally fall and crash.

Here's some pics....
Tommy climbing up...

Wow...what a view up here....

Sliding down kind of takes his breath away at first!

A true Nance kid.... "let me climb up this way"

SIGN IN A STORE WINDOW

"WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS WITH 1000 ALQAEDA TERRORISTS THAN WITH ONE SINGLE AMERICAN SOLDIER!"



This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in Philadelphia . You are probably outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement.
However, we are a society which holds Freedom of Speech as perhaps our greatest liberty.


And after all, it is just a sign.

You may ask what kind of business would dare post such a sign.




Answer: A Funeral Home
(Who said morticians had no sense of humor?)


You gotta love it....this was an email forward from my father in law!!

God Bless America

Blizzard.....

Man what fun.....Dad is at school studying....but when he gets home he will take the kids sledding!

Here's Robby and Kaitlyn playing on the seesaw in the snow....



Tommy wishing Mom would bundle him up to join the kids out there, maybe later when Dad gets home.



Kimberlyn, Kaitlyn and Robby...



Robby's makeshift fort (the roof to the kids playhouse)



Tommy watching Dad and Kimberlyn shovel snow last night before the blizzard conditions....


Here's a note Kaitlyn wrote for me as we were rushing out the door to run in Target before heading to the Spirit NIght at Wendy's school fundraiser last Wednesday. LOVE IT!

Birthday Pictures

Jackson, Austin and Robby-- The Birthday King!


Kaitlyn and Tommy playing in the "soft play" area....FUN, FUN, FUN!!!


Kimberlyn finally stopped for a cute smile, she'd been running from the camera!


Kimberlyn (photographer in training) took this of Mom trying to snag a picture with the Birthday King!


Tyler, The Birthday King, Jackson and Austin enjoying some silly fun while eating pizza.


MAKE A WISH!!!


Tommy wondering what all the fuss is about anyhow! He's really liking this table food eating, he eats nonstop most of the time!


Tommy REALLY wondering what is going on and WHY this King is in here?!?!?


Robby posing with the Dragon and the King....darn I hate blurry pictures! Notice Tommy, he makes this blurry picture a keeper!


KING ROBBY!


TOMMY IS REALLY WALKING NOW!!! And it is SO much fun!!


Snatchin' up the cute firls too! This is his new friend Natalie he found. They were SO curious about each other! She was just a couple months younger than Tommy (only 1 month younger per his adjusted age)!



LASTLY some random pictures from the past few weeks!

Kaitlyn riding back in January in the snow, it was barely 30 degrees out that day! She's a diehard and LOVES it!


Tommy trying to give me hand with dishes....


Robby and Dad on a ski trip Feb 16, 2008


Robby took a lesson on the snow board and LOVED it. I think he found it harder than he expected!


Kimberlyn cruisin' in her Jeep enjoying the almost 60-degree weather on March 2nd---this all changed as Robby's party day was wet and COLD!


Hmmm...I was inside, but something tells me this one was posed! BUT, how cute is it?!?!?!?

quick update....

Seems I'm always on the run and feel I don't have time to add pictures....THEY WILL COME SOON!

1) Robby is into double digits...the BIG TEN!! Pictures of his party this past Tuesday to follow SOON!

2) Tommy waved bye-bye for the first time!! It was to Daddy as he left for school this morning!!

3) My eyes are recovered, PRAISE GOD! Scarred, but recovered!

4) Tommy started (about 2 wks ago) WALKING.....like 10-15 steps at a time before falling and crawling to an object that might help him stand and sart the cycle over again. WE ALL LOVE THIS!!! Pictures will be added w/ his bro's birthday pictures!

Do you wear CONTACTS?

So previously I posted a few weeks back that I was to see an opthamologist about my seeing floaters. I DID see this doc. She was nice and did a very detailed exam. She explained that everyone has this gel in their eye and it dries up and breaks down over time, a normal natural thing for some people to notice floaters due to this.

GREAT...it's normal and I am fine....

Well, the floaters seemed to get worse. I was told to return in there was a drastic change... My change was so, so gradual I barely realized it was happening. All the while this was going on I was realizing my vision was getting gradually worse. Opthamologists don't update your glasses or contact prescriptions.

I FINALLY went to an optometrist last Thursday. The doctor was WONDERFUL! First he asked what brought me in? I explained my vision seemed bad. I was having episodes of (best I can explain it is) my eyes were going off into la-la land, BUT I wasn't. He did such a thorough exam, like I felt he examined and looked at my eyes in different ways than I have ever had done. This wouldn't be alarming if I hadn't been the faithful contact wearer to go in once a year AND had I not been seen SIX times in the last 14 months by TWO different opthamologists and an optometrist!!

Well, I did in fact have a problem and my eyes WEREN'T fine and NORMAL.

I wear disposable contacts, they are supposed to be thrown out after being worn a month. Since I do not sleep in them and soak/clean them every night, I wore my contacts for a few months at a time or until it ripped.

BAD, BAD, BAD....what happened is the contacts develop a film (get dirty) over time. My eye lid was being irritated and basically quit making this mucus/lubricant... My eyes are all irritated and swollen due to this. THIS IS why I was noticing such bad vision, EVEN in my new prescription I was not able to see 20/20! The doc gave me prescription eye drops to use for a week, I had to use the drops 4 times a day with out the contacts in?!?!? My "back-up" glasses are just that, back up for an emergency. The doctor really suggested I wear glasses for a week...

So, I ran out Saturday and bought a new pair of glasses that actually are SAFE for me to drive in :) I feel so strange in them. Larry has kindly told me I look like a librarian and then he decided I look like a school teacher?!?!? How about I look like a stay at home mama? I go back on Thursday for a check up. I feel SO much better now with a good, true understanding of what and why my eyes have gone nuts on me.

So, DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS??? Please be sure to wear them exactly how they recommend you to and get your eyes check once a year! Had this gone on much longer my eyes would have suffered forever...kind of like a nail biter....my eye lids would have fallen into a critical BAD habit. I'm praying he sees drastic improvement later this week. I feel and see much better now. Floaters are either gone or very mild.

P.S. Ask your eye doctor about this as the eyes are so complex (to me anyhow) and I feel I BARELY understand my own problem, I've just described it as best as I could!