The "Missing" Tooth

Literally!  Anne has had her first loose tooth.  It's been a major topic of conversation this week and it had gotten incredible wiggly.  After being a little freaked out by the idea of actually pulling it out (no thanks to her brother), she informed us that she was just going to let it come out on her own.  I told her that was a fine idea.  It was her tooth and she could do whatever she wanted with it.

Today, when we picked her up from school, she announced that she had a surprise for us.  She smiled real big and said "I lost my tooth!"  We were, of course, excited for her and I was immediately looking for the little tooth necklace that the teachers give them to put their teeth in when they loose them at school.  She then announced that she swallowed it.  What?  Not the FIRST one!?!  She explained that it came out during lunch.  She was eating a Pop Tart.  Now - we won't go into why they were serving Pop Tarts for lunch - that is a different topic - but when she noticed it was gone, she summoned an adult who helped her look - but to no avail.  The tooth was swallowed.

It's funny how that makes me sad.  I have this little collection of ALL of Jarod's baby teeth in the bottom drawer of my jewelry box.  Weird - I know - we won't talk about that either.  I was all ready to start Anne's collection.  And now her very first one is somewhere in her digestive system.  Ya - we won't be going after that one. I'm afraid it's a loss.  But why did it have to be the first?  Maybe the second or the third - but the first?      *Sigh*

Well, regardless of where it is now - it is no longer in her mouth and she is quite happy.  I guess I should get off of here and go and do my "Tooth Fairy" duties!

Jarod is well aware of who the Tooth Fairy is in our house.  He lost a tooth about a month ago and keeps asking me if the Fairy is on strike!  LOL!  I told him that she knew Anne had a loose one too and was waiting so she only had to make one trip.  He just rolls his eyes at me.  Trouble is - I NEVER carry cash!  Guess I need to take care of that!

Until next time......

Spring Break and Other Miscellaneous

Spring Break began a week ago Friday.  Jarod took off for his first two night camp out with the Boy Scouts and this time - without Dad.  He did great! 

While he was gone - Anne and I had a visit from this little one:

 How cute is she?  Love my little Chloe!  Can't believe how big she is getting.  She is such a sweet one.  Love how she says, "Thank You Much!"  Too Cute!

Had to take this photo.  This was Jarod's favorite duck when he was Chloe's age.  She found it and had to have her nap with it.  Love it!

We spent a fun day with her on Saturday and then after church on Sunday, Anne and I picked up Jarod from camp and headed down to New Port Richey to visit with Sasha and Jeff for a few days!  Jarod did not stop talking the entire trip!  The. Entire. Trip.  He had such a fun time at camp.

We did a whole lot of nothing at Sasha's house.  Sat by the pool, went to the beach, did a little shopping.  Stayed up late - slept in.  It was so nice - as always.

I will say that the water was a bit cold still so the kids did a lot of playing around and on top of the water instead of in it.  For example:

 

Standing on the raft

Using our feet to play in the fountains

Using the raft as a boat

We did spend a day on Clearwater Beach.  I had never been before so this was a nice treat!  The day was gorgeous and the water was a little warmer.  At least for the kids.

We were attacked by pirates!  How cool is that?

Anne thought it was real (firing the cannon didn't help) and came running up the beach yelling, "Mom!  We have to leave - Pirates are coming!"  Ha!

 She decided to stay safe on the beach and work on a sandcastle

Jarod helped

Maybe I should have helped too!  Too bad Daddy wasn't there - he makes great sandcastles.  They had a hard time with the sand/water ratio.  Something we don't have to worry about when we go to the beach at St. Augustine.  The sand is so compacted because you can drive your car on the beach - that sandcastles are easy.

Then Anne decided she wanted to get buried in the sand.  She got up quickly when Jarod accidentally tossed sand in her face.  Thus I didn't get another picture. 

We watched several "happy" para-sailors throughout the day.

And Jarod attempted to use his boogie board in the Gulf.  Again - very different from our beaches.

 

Not too bad....

Is it just me or does he look so  ----  old ---- here?  UGH!

Love this one!  Still getting the sand rinsed off.......

Maybe if she goes out a little deeper - but there's Pelicans.....

These guys kept diving pretty close to the kids 

I guess lunch time was more important than a few kids swimming close by.

And then there's these guys:

One of them literally swooped down and stole a piece of cheese out of my hand!  Little lunch thieves!  I was sitting with the kids and had just taken a bite.  I didn't have it far from my mouth and he did a major fly by and took it!  Scared me to death!  Can they even eat cheese?  I wonder if he got sick - maybe he deserves it.  LOL!

All in all it was a fun day with lots of memories!  Thanks Sasha for such a great time!

We came home late Wednesday night and have just been enjoying our time off the rest of the week.  I have upgraded to a Smart Phone and don't feel very smart.  Just trying to maneuver my way around it has consumed a few days.  I think I'm finally catching on though.  My previous phone was over 3 years old - didn't even have any G's!  I am excited that I can manage my Calligraphy emails and scheduling with it.  That will be a big help.

The kids go back to school on Monday and we enter into the final 9 weeks!  I can't believe the end of the school year is quickly approaching!  Wasn't it just yesterday that I was adjusting to Anne being in Kindergarten?  How time flies.  Our summer is already filling up with activities which will give me many more opportunities to blog!  Until next time.......

New Business Cards, Sneaky Leprechauns and A First BSA Camp Out

I'm so excited about my new business cards.  I already shared them on my Calligraphy Blog and on Facebook, but wanted to put them on here as well.  

I work with a fantastic group of Wedding Vendors at The Wedding Party and a few of them worked with me to help me create this card.  I wanted something classy - something me.  So, Tammy Sybelnik of The Wedding and Portrait Photographers took photos of my hand and my Ink Well.  She then edited the photo to give me the sepia color and get it ready for printing.  Then Laura Parish of Celebrated Occasions worked with me on font design and printing.  I think it turned out awesome and I cannot wait to get them in and begin to pass them out!  Definitely a business card I am proud of!  Thanks everyone for your talent and expertise!  You guys are amazing!

On a different note ~ Yesterday being Thursday, it was also St. Patrick's Day.  On Thursdays I volunteer in Anne's classroom and when I walked into the class, all the kids looked like this:

I LOVE IT!  Evidently Lucky the Leprechaun had stopped by and left some clues behind.  After following them all, the kids came to a pot of gold and each received their very own gold coin!  Special gold, of course, that can only be passed out by Leprechauns and is not able to be spent.  But the kids had so much fun.  I wish I would have had my camera to get a class photo.  All 18 of them with these on was hysterical!

Spring Break has officially started for us today and Jarod leaves tonight for his first 2 night BSA camp out - without Russell.  Cub Scouts are all about family camp outs and Russ always went with him but now that he is an official Boy Scout - dad stays home.  He's been practicing how to put up and take down his tent all by himself and rolling up his sleeping bag all by himself.  I think he's got it down.  He'll be working all weekend on earning Merritt Badges and his Tenderfoot rank in the New Scout Program.  He'll be gone from 6:00 tonight until noon on Sunday.  Right now I'm okay with him going alone - we'll see how the weekend progresses.  He is very excited and I think he'll do well.  I'm anxious to hear all about it when he comes home.

Until next time.........

Awards, Strep Throat and More......

 
I am very excited that my plaque arrived in the mail today!  What an honor this has been.  My business is crazy busy but I'm not complaining - much!  LOL!  I know that this is a blessing from the Lord and I am still in awe of how far He has taken me in just 6 years.  A simple hobby made into a growing business.  And I still get to be at home and fulfill the role God has called me to - wife and mom.  God is so very good.


I spent the last two days working on a snap shot look at our life.  If you haven't read it, click the tab above (under the title photo) that says "The Story of Us".  I have also added a tab to go directly to all the ApParent Project shipping information so you don't have to file through all of my blog posts to find it.

These are the things I do when I have a little extra down time.  Anne is home with Strep Throat.  Poor thing.  This is her first time to have it.  Oddly enough, Jarod has had it 4 or 5 times in the last year and she never did catch it - until now.  Of course, Jarod is fine (as of this moment anyway).  Anne is much better today and I think she is enjoying her down time as well.

Just to catch you up a little - Meggie is feeling much better and is back to her normal self.  She wound up staying at the vet for two days because she refused to pee and give them the urinalysis that they needed.  Stubborn little thing.  Held it for 36 hours!  I wonder if there is a Guinness record for that?  Sorry - Jarod brought a Guinness World Record book home the other day - it was fascinating!  Anyway - we all missed her while she was gone and are glad to have her back home.

Jarod has his first Boy Scout activity last Saturday.  He and a few of the other Scouts from Troop 650 spent their morning picking up trash along side Knight Boxx Road here in Orange Park.  It was his Troops way of helping to keep Clay County beautiful.

He is now working on a fund raiser to help pay for Scout Camp this summer.  We have been highly impressed by his motivation and so far he has earned $83.00 toward his camp fees.  Way to go Jarod!!

I guess that is about it for now.  I need to get off of here and get to work on all of the envelopes I have stacked in the other room.  I literally have a wedding a day to work on this week.  Until next time......

Meg

I thought I would take a few moments before I begin on my Calligraphy tonight to give you an update on Meggie.  Okay - maybe it's really an update on me.  I am continuing to morph into one of "those people" and it's getting worse.

Meggie came home from the Emergency Vet Clinic on Thursday night with an antibiotic - but no pain medication.  The poor cat has been miserable.  She has been doing her normal activities and eating and drinking the same, but without as much spunk as usual.  I was startled last night when she rolled over and we found a large spot on her tummy where she had over groomed herself and removed the fur.  Enter my semi-panic mode.  I remained calm but made a few phone calls and decided that yes, it could wait until morning.  I didn't sleep well last night - I was actually having dreams about Meggie coming to me all bloody and missing patches of fur.  UGH!

I was up early and on the phone with the Humane Society.  Not ever having had an emergency with her before, we have not established ourselves with a vet clinic.  We used the HS to get her spayed and vaccinated when we first got her, but that has really been it.  So anyway, I called and explained the situation and was told that there were no openings until Tuesday and to just give her Benadryl.  WHAT?  Why would I do that if we don't know the reason?  Yes - she could be having an allergic reaction to the medication - but it could also be a pain response!  I found myself being a little snappy with the lady and saying, "Why would I give her medication if I don't know that she needs it?"  The same exact response I would have about one of my children!  I got feisty and defensive!  My cat is in pain for goodness sake and I'm NOT going to make her suffer until Tuesday!  And why didn't they give her something for the pain last night?  (Definitely learned from that one and will fight harder for her if there is a next time).

I called a Vet that had been recommended to me, explained my situation and my frustration.  They were so very nice and I had an appointment for 9:45.  Yea me!  So, Anne and I go off to the vet this morning.  Did I mention that I am incredibly busy with Calligraphy right now and this whole thing is terribly inconvenient?  Russ offered to go - but that protective, mother mode clicked in again and no - I had to go.  I have to ask the questions - I have to hear the answers.  Men forget to ask things. (No offense - it's just true).

I totally loved the Dr. we had today - she explained things so incredibly clearly and gave us both the pain medication and Benadryl for her.  We don't know if she is in pain from the infection or if she is having a reaction to something.  They still have not been able to get a sample from her to find out what is causing all this to begin with.  (Those are part of the personal details I kept you from in the last post).  She goes back on Monday and will stay until she....ahem....pees for them and then we will know more.

Now - I write all of this to let all of you animal lovers out there know that for 30 something years I have laughed, rolled my eyes and thought you were all absolutely CRAZY.  I am writing to apologize.  I get it.  I finally get it!  She is part of our family and as strange as it feels flowing out of my fingers into the keys - I will fight for her like she is one of my children.  I can hardly believe I'm admitting this publicly.  But - the last few days have definitely proven it.  It's official.  I'm a crazy cat lover.  Never. Say. Never.

Poor Kitty, Kitty.....

At the risk of being made fun of, I will tell you about my evening.  Yes - I know you will all laugh at me, but I don't care.  I have become one of "those people" and I'm okay with that.

We came home this afternoon to find Meggie acting very strange.  She was quite restless, and was going into the litter box every few minutes with little or no productivity.  Poor thing.  We noticed other symptoms but I will spare you the personal details.  Meggie will appreciate a little privacy.  .......Ahem.  So, we did a little research on line, made a few phone calls and yes - wound up spending 3 hours at the Emergency Vet clinic here in town.  She was diagnosed with a UTI and is now resting comfortably at home after the horrible and quite personal ordeal. 

Yes - I have become one of "those people" who will spend whatever amount of time and money to help my poor cat feel better. (Insert eye roll here)  She's a CAT!!!  But - she is part of our family and our responsibility.  So, away I went, forgoing my Calligraphy for the evening, (my schedule is so totally off now) and running to the emergency room as if she was one of my children.  I will admit that I hesitated and even called Russell to find out if I should mark YES or NO on the "Do you want us to perform CPR" question.  UGH!  Knowing she wasn't in any real danger, of course I marked yes.  But what a weird question to think about. 

Anyway - she is on medication and we have a follow up at the vet on Monday.  Yes - I have become one of "Those People"........