An Early Morning Trip to the ER

About once a year Alyssa gets croup. On Sat. afternoon I heard the start of it- the barky cough. I put her humidifier in her room that night. At 4am I heard her cough, it was tight and I could tell she wasn't getting much air. I got up and checked on her. She was burning up and definitely having trouble breathing. I gave her some Tylenol and took her to the ER. Fortunately there wasn't too much of a wait. They took us back and gave her some Motrin for her fever. Then she got a breathing treatment, some anti-inflammatory medicine and a chest x-ray. After 2 1/2 hours we got to go home. She was a different girl when we left. She could breathe again. She was very talkative and happy. She held very still for her x-ray and took her Prelone with no problem (it tastes really bad. We have kids spit it out all the time at the hospital). She was a champ! She took a 4 hour nap in the afternoon. I called in to work and told them I couldn't come. I feel so guilty doing that but when she has croup I feel better to be home with her. Plus she couldn't go to preschool. This morning she woke up sounding awful. Keep her in your prayers please. Thankfully it usually only lasts a few days.
On Friday night, we had my mom's 70th birthday. We went to a nice dinner and surprised her with my sister, Sandi who flew down for the day. My mom cried when she saw her. My dad took her to Cambria to a bed and breakfast for a couple of days. I still can't believe she is 70. She seems a lot younger to me. The other night the girls and I made gingerbread cookies for the first time ever. I messed up the first batch so we had to start over. They turned out cute but don't taste good at all. I think the recipe wasn't a good one. They needed more sugar or something. The girls liked them OK, but I'll save my calories for something that takes good. They sure had fun decorating them. I'm attaching a cute picture of Brianna. Last night she came into the living room on her rocking horse with a scarf on her head saying she was Mary. Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Happy Holidays

It's my favorite time of the year. Also the busiest, so forgive me that I haven't written in a while. We had a wonderful time in Ohio visiting Shannon and Chad. They live outside of Columbus in a beautiful house in a very nice neighborhood. The houses are so big and so inexpensive compared to Southern Ca. It was tempting us to relocate. It was fun to bundle up for a week. However, coming home really made me realize how much I like our weather. We went to the Columbus Zoo, Art Museum, Kid's Science Museum, The Bodies Exhibit, and did lots of shopping. The mall that Shan works at is really nice. We played games and hung out in Shan and Chad's theater (their basement that we called the "man cave". They have a projector and movie screen, bar, pool table, and computer). That is where Bill hung out the whole time. It was great to spend time with Shan but soooo hard to say goodbye. Alyssa was a bit of a challenge on the plane. It's hard to keep a 2 year old entertained for 5 hours. We bought Brianna a Leapster and she was a perfect angel. Now it's back to the real world. Brianna went back to school on Monday after being off for a month. It's been a little hard readjusting and she has gotten in trouble- No TV for a week. Great news with Alyssa- she is officially potty trained!! Almost 2 weeks ago she turned 2 1/2 so we decided it was time to put her in panties. She had 3 accidents the first day, then 1 accident the next couple of days and then no more. She's been doing so good. What a relief! I'm so glad to be done with that. It can be so frustrating. Tomorrow we are going for family portraits. Wish us luck. That can also be a frustrating thing. Now that Alyssa is getting a little older, it should be OK. Last year was a bit of a challenge. Bill and the girls spent Thanksgiving in San Diego with his parents. I had to work that night so I went to my cousin Susan's in Corona. My parents, Sheri, Grandma, Aunt and Uncle and cousins were there. Why does the food have to be so good? Bill and I are hoping to get some kind of exercise equipment for Christmas for each other...Treadmill, Eliptical or Bike. Any suggestions would be great. Well, Alyssa is climbing all over me so I better giver her some attention. Remember: Jesus is the Reason for the Season!!

In Loving Memory of Virginia Margaret McCage 1914-2007

My sweet Grandma McCage went home to be with the Lord on Tues. night Oct. 30th at the age of 93. She will be greatly missed. I was able to spend some time with her on Monday afternoon and again on Tuesday. It is never easy to see someone you love go, but it is comforting to know that she is in Heaven with our Lord and Savior. She was such a strong lady right up to the end. She was always so positive and sweet. I learned a lot from her. She was loved by all who knew her and will be greatly missed.

A Smoky Halloween

In case you all are wondering, we are surviving the fires. The air quality has been awful. It looks cloudy and overcast but it is all smoke. This morning our power went out for around 4 hours. You don't realize how much you depend on something until it is gone. Today was Brianna's last day of school. Now she is off for a month. I hope I can keep her busy enough. We will spend 1 week in Ohio which we all are looking very forward to. It will be nice to breathe in fresh air. I feel like Halloween is over. The girls have dressed up three times already- Disneyland, a party and dance class. I'll attempt to attach pictures again. Bill and I are going on a date tonight. Alyssa's preschool is having parent's night out to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation so we figured we should take advantage of the rare opportunity.

Halloween Fun

Last night we went Trick or Treating at Disneyland. It's a special event at California Adventure that we go to every year. They have tons of stands set up that you trick or treat to and get lots of candy (they had healthy snacks too which was really good since we are being healthy now). We use the candy that we get to give out to the kids who come to the house trick or treating. Is that bad? Bill and I dressed up as a king and queen and Bri and Alyssa were princesses (surprise, surprise). I met a worker from Grass Valley. All of their name tags have where they are from and when hers said Grass Valley I started talking to her. Go Miners! She was a cheerleader too. I sure made me feel old when she said she was the class of 2006. We had lots of fun but it was really crowded so we decided that next year we will go earlier in the month. Alyssa started a new dance class this week. We were over the mommy and me thing. She was way too clingy so we put her in a class by herself and she did way better. She is the only one in pull-ups. I think the other girls are 3 maybe 4. A couple of weeks ago I let Brianna try on my old cheerleading outfit and Alyssa got to wear my school uniform from South Africa. I attached a picture. It brings back lots of memories. We took Alyssa today for her very first haircut. She was a little scared so we had to bribe her with candy. I really don't like doing that but she was throwing a fit and wasn't going to sit down in the chair. It's amazing what a small piece of sugar will do to a 2 year olds attitude. She was suddenly happy as could be. Well, I have to go get us all dressed for Sally's annual Halloween party. (it looks like I'll have to attach the pictures later, they aren't working)

Healthy Living

The other night I was watching a show on TLC about this family with 6yr old twins and 3 yr. old sextuplets. The mom was getting ready to go for a tummy tuck and was preparing food for all of the nights she would be gone (14 days). She was cooking away and saying how she thinks it is so important to be feeding her children healthy food. She sneaks in veggies anywhere she can and tries to give them organic foods when they can afford it. Then she said that the sextuplets had never had fast food. That hit me and I thought, here my kids eat fast food atleast once if not twice a week. But the part that really made me want to change my ways was when she said she is giving her children a gift that they probably will never know is a gift, by teaching them to eat healthy. Bill walked into the room about that time and I said, "What are we doing? We are really messing up in this area." It is all about convience and what the girls like- chicken nuggets, hot dogs, etc. I've barely been offering them fruits and veggies because I know they won't eat them (atleast that is what I thought). Bill said, "Let's throw out all of the junk and start over." I was a little hesitant but knew that was the only way to do this. So that night, we did it. Yesterday was our first day of eating better and it was surprisingly easy. Alyssa was eating strawberries and Bri was eating broccoli. No more snacking on high sugar foods. I know this won't be easy, but I have to think what is best in the long run. If anyone has good recipes or ideas on how to get kids to eat their veggies, I'm open for suggestions. It's exciting but a little sad... I was really craving a bowl of ice cream last night. Pray for us that we will stick with this.

Happy October!

Wow, it's been almost a month since I last wrote. Where does the time go? Brianna received her first award in kindergarten last week. That was pretty exciting. She was one of 5 in her class to receive the "Alphabet Champion" Award and one of 3 to receive the "Number Nut" Award. The alphabet champion award is for the kids who can recognize all of their letters in upper and lower case and know the sounds that they make. The number nut award is for the kids who can recognize their letters from 0-30. Brianna and her friend, Rio, were the only 2 to get both awards. We were so proud! Just in the last couple of weeks, she has started to read. She is very excited about that. It's amazing how fast she is learning everything. She is still going to ballet once a week and seems to enjoy it. I've been thinking it might be time soon to try something new- maybe piano lessons, soccer, cheerleading, etc. We haven't quite decided yet. Alyssa didn't want to do much dancing in her Mommy and Me class last week. She might be ready for something new too.
We had a wonderful visit with Kimberly, Markus and their 3 beautiful children- Micah, Kate and Emma. They were visiting from Grass Valley this past week. It was so nice to hang out with old friends. There is nothing quite like it. I just wish we could do it more often. Kim and the kids came over on Thurs. We had lunch at the mall and then just hung out here at the house. Everyone played really nice. Then Friday night we met them at Disneyland. My nephew, Connor, was visiting for the weekend so we thought we would take him. I almost got him on Tower of Terror again but the line was too long. I think he was quite relieved about that. He said that the Tower of Terror doesn't put him in a happy place. He's a cute kid!
I've been bummed at work lately with my holiday schedule. They put me to work Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. We usually request what holidays we want to work and I got put on all of the ones I didn't want. Not very good for the 2nd most senior person on night shift. Oh well, I just figure I'll work them now and should get them off next year. It has been very frustrating though. Alyssa just came in and asked me, "What do you have in your belly? A baby?" No, I just ate too much at Souplantation.

Is Summer Over Yet?

Boy are we ready for Fall. On Saturday, our air conditioner started leaking in our hallway. Of course it had to happen when it was 110 degrees. We had someone come out and he said we needed a new air conditioner and heater. I knew they were getting old since our house was built in the 60's. So we went one day without air and that was one day too many. We had to send the girls to my parent's house for the weekend so they could stay cool. I went to work early that night since I couldn't stand being in the house anymore- it was 92 degrees in the house at 6:30pm. The next morning the guys were there working and we were up and running by 1:30pm. It took a big chunk of money so we are looking at getting creative with our bills. The joys of being a homeowner! Brianna is starting to read. It's pretty exciting. She is doing really well in school. No more getting in trouble. Although yesterday she told me that she wanted to get in trouble. When I asked her why she said, "So I can get some attention." Interesting. So I gave her plenty of attention explaining to her that there are better ways to get attention, like doing a good job. She's a funny kid. Happy Birthday to Chad and Cathy yesterday! The pictures are of a PTA BBQ we went to at Brianna's school, Alyssa at the Disney Store (their favorite place to shop) and Brianna at Jonathan's puppy party.

Save the Drama for your Mama

Brianna is in her 4th week of kindergarten and let me tell you, I had no idea there would be so much drama. At the end of her second week she got in trouble for touching a boy where you're not supposed to. I was really surprised and she completely denied it (no teacher saw it, the boy just said she did it). We had the whole weekend to talk about keeping our hands to ourselves and about lying. So on Mon. when she went back, I told her teacher she denied it and her teacher said, she also denied it when she was caught almost pinching a boy's bottom. Now that I could see happening. Aunt Shan knows all about "Pinchy, Pinchy". :) So then we had a talk about what is Ok at home, may not be Ok at school. She has done really well since then and hasn't gotten in any more trouble. Yeah! It was very humbling. Now her only issue is the fire alarms. She is scared of fire alams to the point that we had to take her smoke detector out of her room because she couldn't sleep. There is a huge alarm in their very small bathroom in their class. So, instead of going in there, Brianna holds it all day long. We are working on that. Oh the drama!! Alyssa is doing OK at preschool. She wasn't too sure about it at first but is getting more used to it. She cried one morning when I dropped her off. Since then, Bill has taken her and she's been fine. Her big issue is pinching. Yesterday we went shopping and she pinched and scratched the back of my arm. OUCH! I wasn't very happy. Don't you love those temper tantrums in a store?? Any suggestions on how to stop pinching will be much appreciated. For the most part we are having fun and enjoying each other's company. Bill and I got to go on a date about a week and a half ago. He showed up at the door with a dozen red roses. Then we went to dinner and a movie. It was great. He's such a good husband and dad. I was listening to the radio yesterday morning and they were asking, "If you had to do it all over again, would you still marry your spouse?" Almost all of the callers said, no. It was pretty sad. I would marry Bill again in a heartbeat. I couldn't imagine anyone else!

School Girls

Brianna started kindergarten a week ago and loves it. She said, "Kindergarten is way better than preschool." Well, we won't tell Alyssa that because she started preschool today and was quite excited. I've gotta tell you, I'm pretty excited too. You wouldn't believe how much I've gotten done around the house in just 2 hours. I must admit though, that it is really quiet. Too quiet. I guess I just have to get used to that. Alyssa is going to go 3 half days. 2 of the days I'll be sleeping and the other day is for meetings, errands, etc. Her collarbone is doing much better. She is wearing her brace all the time. She has adapted well to using just one arm. A couple of times she has fallen on it and I'm sure that it hurt. She is a little trooper. We've been doing lots of walking - taking Bri to school and back. The morning walk is nice but the afternoon is way too hot. I can't wait for fall. I was talking to Brianna's teacher this morning and next year her school is going to traditional instead of year round. Yesterday we celebrated my dad's 70th birthday. We had a surprise party for him at their clubhouse. There was a wonderful turnout. He was pretty surprised too. We had fun singing karoeke and playing games. Well, I better go give the dog a bath before I have to pick up Alyssa.

Our First Broken Bone

Last night I was getting ready for work and Brianna and Alyssa were outside playing. I was getting Alyssa's clothes ready for her first day of preschool when she came inside crying. I picked her up and noticed a little dirt on her shoulder and a small scratch. I didn't start to suspect anything until she wouldn't stop crying and she said her shoulder hurt. I felt her collarbone and it didn't feel quite right. I called Bill into the room and asked him to feel it. He couldn't really tell but I thought it might be broken. Then we asked Brianna what happened. They were playing on their Little Tikes slide when Alyssa pinched Bri and so Bri pushed her off and she landed on her shoulder. I called work and told them what happened and that I might not be in tonight. They said no problem, they had put someone on call. So off to the ER we went. We got some X-Rays and sure enough, it was a broken clavicle. They sent us home after 2 hours and said give her Tylenol and Motrin as needed. It wasn't until I was washing her hair last night that I noticed the big bump on her head. So much for her first day of preschool. Today has been quite a challenge. Alyssa has been in quite a lot of pain and needing a lot of attention. Twice Brianna has told me that I love Alyssa more than her. Then I have to explain that Alyssa needs more attention today. So next thing I know, Brianna has a broken leg and has to lay on the couch next to Alyssa. It a good thing she starts kindergarten tomorrow. I called Alyssa's doctor to see if they could phone in a prescription for something stronger but they said they have to see her so we're going there in a little while. Above is a picture of what Alyssa has been doing all day- laying on the couch watching TV. Please send up some prayers that this heals fast!

Messy Fun!

These pictures are proof of what happens when you leave 2 little girls alone outside with paint. Not a good idea. However, they had a great time! Today we went to the Botanical Gardens at UCR. I didn't even know they existed until my friend, Bernadette, suggested we go there. After we found the place (we both got a little lost), we felt like we were no longer in Riverside. It was quite pretty. We had a little picnic, the girls played on the grass and we went on a little hike. It was around 100 degrees outside but tolerable in the shade. It might be better to wait until Fall or Spring to go back. We were all sweaty. So I told you in my last blog that my babysitter gave her notice (it was a 3 week notice). Well yesterday she told me she won't be able to come back at all. So we went down to La Petite and got all of the paperwork to sign Alyssa up and she will start on Monday. I think Brianna will just hang out with me on Mon. when I get home from work. She's pretty good about keeping herself entertained while I sleep, then she starts school on Tues. It's amazing how everything can change so quickly. It's a good thing that Bri is starting school on Tues., I think she is getting bored at home and then tends to act up. We made some house rules a couple of weeks ago and today was the first time she got the punishment for breaking them. They always get a warning first. So now there is no dessert, no TV for the rest of the day, and 3 toys go to the give away bag. Hopefully she'll learn her lesson. I really don't like discipling and being the bad guy. It's a lot of work. Well, enough rambling, I better go get some things done around the house while the girls are sleeping.

Change is good!

Today our babysitter, Maria, gave us her notice. After a little over a year and a half, she is leaving. She said that she is too allergic to our dog. I was pretty sad. I got on the phone and called La Petite Academy which is where Brianna went to preschool and started getting prices. I can send Alyssa there for 3 days for what I was paying Maria for 2. Then we were worried about who would drop off Brianna at school when I'm still at work and I called her school and she can be dropped off much earlier than I thought for breakfast. I also called my mom and asked if she'd be available to help when I have an occasional meeting or class and she said of course. God is good, everything is working out and I believe this is happening for a reason. For one to save money, but I really think Alyssa is ready for preschool. She loved going to pick up Brianna everyday and always wanted to stay and play. Plus they will help with potty training! Yeah. I just have to figure out what to do with Bri when she is out of school for the month of Nov. and March. But I have a little time to figure it out. Please keep us in your prayers that this all works out. Brianna had her dance recital on Sat. night. She was a penguin and danced to a song from "Happy Feet". I was laughing so hard I had tears coming down my face. I knew Brianna could shake her booty, but I had no idea! She got 2 bouquets of flowers when she was done and was so proud. It was a great night.

Happy 5th Birthday to Brianna!

My little Brianna turned 5 today. It's hard to believe, I know. Where does the time go. We had a wonderful party for her at Chuck E. Cheese. We all know how she loves being the star. It was great to see all of our friends. Thank you to those who came. We then had a little get together afterwards at our house. Brianna was in Heaven opening all of those presents. Today was her actual birthday and she was so excited to go to the big 5 year old class at church. Brianna got to pick where to go for lunch- can anyone guess? Yes, McDonalds. I had to come home and take a nap because I was scheduled to work. However, they just called me and asked me if I wanted the night off. It is way too hard to refuse, so of course I took it. Now I can spend the evening with my birthday girl. It's been a fun weekend! Here is a picture of Bri at Chuck E. Cheese. Where a kid can be a kid!

Keeping Cool!

Just sitting here in the air conditioned house trying to keep cool. We had pretty nice weather for about a week and now it is hot again. Yesterday I had a wonderful afternoon at the Glen Ivy Spa with a bunch of my work friends. It is a cool place with lots of pools, spas, mud, etc. I'm on the Spirit Committee at work and we planned this. It was a lot of fun, but I must say I sure didn't want to get in a bathing suit in front of my work friends. They all made fun of me for being so white. I can't help it! They really are a fun group of people, we did a lot of laughing, not to mention relaxing. We got kicked out of "Club Mud" because they were going to do some filming for a VH1 show.
Yesterday was Brianna's last day at La Petite Academy. It was sad saying goodbye to them. They have been wonderful. I think Brianna will really miss it there. She sure did learn a lot and made some great friends. We took some treats and they sang Happy Birthday to her.
This morning we took treats to dance class for Bri's birthday. I think Alyssa drank too much juice and had quite a blow out in the toy room. It was coming down her leg and she got it all over her hands. I hauled her into the bathroom and cleaned her up. Fortunately her leotard stayed clean. However, I had a feeling she might have left a trail somewhere so I went on the search. It didn't take long to find. It was all over the toy room floor and some toys. It was quite disgusting, not to mention humbling. So Alyssa started the Mommy and Me class without her mommy. I thought I got it all, but the teacher pointed out to me later that there was some on the wall- I got to scrub that too. I don't know how many times she had to mention that there was "an accident" in the toy room. I was already embarrassed enough, I sure didn't want to keep hearing about it. Oh, the joys of motherhood! You'd never believe that she is actually pretty good about going "poops" on the potty. But potty training is a whole other story.
Tomorrow is Brianna's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. She's really looking forward to it. This is the first time we've done a party somewhere other than our house. It just gets too hot in the middle of July. We'll see how it goes.

Brianna Graduates!

My little Brianna graduated from preschool today. It was so cute. I found myself getting a tear in my eye. They sang 2 very cute songs and each walked up and got their diploma from their teacher. Now she is officially ready for kindergarten. They grow up too fast!! We are enjoying the summer and trying to stay cool. I took the girls to Disneyland yesterday. They had the best time playing in the water in Bug's Land at California Adventure. They were soaked so we decided that was a good time to leave. On Wednesday we went to Temecula and fed the ducks at the duck pond and met some old friends, Heather and Daniell. I got to see their moms who I haven't seen since I was little and meet Heather's 2 kids. It was amazing. It brought back wonderful memories of my childhood. Not to mention, the kids had a great time.

Fragile Little Lives

It is one of our jobs as mothers to be the protector of our children. Today, I felt vulnerable. My friend, Bernadette, and I took our kids to get their pictures taken today at JC Penney. It was one of Brianna and Alyssa's best photo shoots. They were happy and cooperative. Bernadette had already paid for her pictures and was waiting for me. I was still trying to decide on mine, since they were all so cute. The girls were excited to go eat lunch and were a little hyper. I was looking at the computer and all of a sudden I hear them start to cry. I turn around and see that they have fallen off the bench and Brianna is laying on Olivia (Age 4), Bernadette's daughter. I pick up Brianna and start to comfort her and Bernadette does the same. All of a sudden Bernadette starts yelling and Olivia is no longer crying and starting to convulse. Her lips start to turn blue and our nurse hats go on. Bernadette lays Olivia on the ground, yells at the worker to call 911, and starts giving rescue breaths. She gave 1 or 2 and then Olivia gasps and starts crying. They start hugging and crying together. Olivia complains of her head hurting but is oriented and a little shaken up. I think we all were. I then look over at my girls and see Brianna with tears in her eyes. How do you explain this to a 4 year old? We warn Olivia that an ambulance is coming and some people will be checking her out. By this time, she is walking around and doing fine. The ambulance took an incredibly long time to get there. Around 10-15 minutes. The EMT saw her and asked if we wanted to take her to the hospital. At that point, we weren't really sure because she looked ok. So we thought maybe we could just drive her. The EMT quickly cancelled the call and started to leave. Didn't even ask what happened. Bernadette and I looked at each other and thought, aren't they even going to take her vital signs? The security guard chased them down and asked them to come back. The rude EMT said, if you want us to look at her you'll have to sign a release and do some paperwork. OK, no problem. We decided to have Olivia go to the hospital in the ambulance just to have her checked out. She was so brave and jumped right in. We waved goodbye to them and went back to pay for our pictures. I looked at Brianna and saw more tears in her eyes. Lunch at McDonald's wasn't nearly as fun without our friends. I think it hit me then. I felt stress, fear and guilt. They are so fragile yet so strong at the same time. When we were driving home from the mall, Alyssa kept asking, "Where's Olivia? Is she at the hospital?" Brianna kept telling her not to talk about it. When we got home, Brianna broke down. She didn't want me to come in her room. When I went in anyway, she starting crying and kicking me. I knew this hit her hard. I just held her in my arms and let her cry. We laid in her bed and I tried my best to explain that it was OK to be scared. I reassured her that Olivia is just fine. We read a story and she fell fast asleep. Being a mother is not an easy job but it is the most rewarding job in the world.

Summer is here!

It is starting to feel like summer. It's in the 90's today. I guess Alyssa got a little hot during her nap yesterday because when I went in to wake her up, she was completely naked. I had to take a picture, it was too cute!
Bill and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary this past week. We watched our wedding video (Bill's idea, believe it or not). We looked so young! What happened? It was fun to see us all dancing...especially the Kongo line. We had a fun crowd! Bill still gets mad at me that I smeared a little cake on his nose. I gave in to the peer pressure. That's OK, he got me back at Brianna's first birthday when he told me to smell the cake and then he pushed my face into it. Fun times! Anyways, we went out to a wonderful dinner and then to the movies. We don't do that enough. My parents were gracious enough to watch the girls. God has definitely blessed our marriage. We are looking forward to many more years together.
Last week I was reunited with a childhood friend, Heather. She was my best friend before I moved to Grass Valley at the age of 9. We lost touch around 7 years ago. Another friend that we had, Daniell, starting working at CHOC last month and told me she was still in touch with Heather. It was so great to see both of them. We were all neighbors when we were little girls. It is a small world. The 3 of us went out to dinner last week and had so much fun catching up. It's amazing how much we haven in common. Unfortunately, Heather and her family are moving to Hawaii next month. Must be rough! I better get going. I have to clean the house before the house cleaner comes tomorrow. :)

Love from Brianna

I love you, Shannon. I know I love you. Have a nice home. Thank you for coming to Grandma's hotel. I love you very much and I wonder what you're getting me for my birthday. I hope you have fun and I miss you. I found a bug at school today. I hope you have fun in Ohio. I hope Chad had fun at his graduation. I love you. You're very sweet. Love, Brianna

Our First Blog Spot

Hello Family and Friends,
I thought I would try out blogging (is that a word). It seems like a great way to update anyone who's interested in what is going on in our lives. We'll see if I can figure this whole thing out. So far, it's been easy. We had a wonderful weekend in San Diego. My parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary and my brother-in-law, Chad, graduated from Med. School at UCSD. It was great to have all 5 of the kids in my family together. I teased my parents by checking them into the Best Western that we were staying at. While my mom was unpacking, we let her know that they were really in Sheri and Sandi's room and we were taking them to their real hotel, The La Valencia in La Jolla. It was beautiful. We had a wonderful weekend together. Then Shan and Chad left on Monday for their long drive to Columbus, Ohio, their new residence. Very sad! Exciting for them, sad for us. We will miss them tremendously.
Brianna and Alyssa are doing well. They are getting so big. Alyssa turned 2 on May 17th. She is doing very well with potty training right now. I'm quite proud of her. Brianna is getting ready to graduate from preschool. She has a fancy, red graduation cap and gown. What ever happened to the paper caps they made in preschool? She's really excited to start kindergarten. Well, I think I've written enough for one day. Hopefully, I'll keep up with it.
Shelli