Our Trip, Day Two, Six Flags

On day two, we went to Six Flags. It was so much fun. We got up extra early, due to the excitement for the day, of course. Here is what I came out of the shower to:

Can't you tell how excited she is? She was jumping from bed to bed in the hotel, and it never stopped. The girl jumped this way all day. She was so happy and giddy!!

Anyhow, we then went to breakfast and then on to Six Flags for the day. We waited in line for the parking gates to open. Here was our only view of Six Flags for about 20 minutes:

Next, we got our tickets and went through the gates, where we were warmly greeted by a whole slew of characters!! In all my time at the parks, I have NEVER seen that many character by the front gates and certainly not right at the gates. Here were a few fun pictures of the characters.

As you can see we all got in on the character fun. How could we not, it was so much fun!! We did share a lunch at the park, since you do have to eat at some time while at a park for 9 hours give or take.

We went on our share of rides, including plenty of water rides. Here are some pictures of the fun rides:

I can tell you after going on the Bobsled ride, Anna was terrified and said she would never, ever get on that ride again. After that, we had some convincing to do to get the girl on some more rides.

We did have a great time and after a full day of rides and family fun, we headed on to dinner at Steak and Shake. We love this restaurant and love the food and especially the milk shakes. It was good. Then, it was back to the hotel for a GOOD nights sleep.

Our Trip, Day One, Getting There

Well, as for our trip, we had a great time and YES, I am finally going to start posting about it for you!! YEAH!! We left on Sunday morning and drove for almost 6 hours to get there. It was a very uneventful drive there. We had good weather and good time driving. We stopped at the truck stop in Sweetwater for a bathroom break and basically drove on through and had a very late lunch at a Weatherford. We then made it on to the hotel, which we had trouble getting into, but finally figured it out and come to find out that the swimming pool we so wanted to swim in was broken and would basically be out of service until the morning we left. UGH!! There went some of our plans. We had dinner with my sister and the baby, who has gotten so big and coos really cute, then went back to the hotel and killed some time. Anna was a little disappointed about the pool still, but she was really excited about seeing her baby cousin. We had a lot of down time the first day, but having dinner with my sister and the baby was the best part of the day. Here are some pictures of day one:

Listening to her MP3 Player:

Energy Windmills:

Movie Watching on Daddy's IPOD:

Funny Milk Truck Picture (That's our car in the reflection):

My Sister and the Cutey Pie Baby:

Graciella Talking:

Looking at her Mommy:

Anna's Favorite thing that day,

holding her baby cousin:

See, she did it more than once:

As you can see the highlight of the day was seeing the baby and my sister. She is a cute little girl and growing so fast. I feel like we are missing it all. Bring her to visit Tashia, so she knows who we are. Love you.

I will post day 2 of our trip tomorrow. Stay tuned for more fun. :-)

Back!

We are back and the trip was good and fun. Lots of good posts coming soon, with pictures. Untill then, I have to work. Need to make up lost time off, as I don't have vacation pay. Stay tuned for those fun posts of the trip...

Packing, Packing!!

YEAH!!! We are packing for our trip. We leave tomorrow morning promptly between 9am and 10am. YEAH!! You see how prompt I am. LOL!! We will leave in the morning somewhere between those times. We still need to unload the dishwasher, put away clean dishes on the counter, wash another load of laundry and give Anna her bath. I think we can do it. On a side note, we will be going almost two full days without the Internet! ACK!! However will we manage?!?!? LOL!! I can't believe we are doing that, but with our trip being so short, I didn't think it was necessary. Anyhow, hope you all have a good three days rest too. I promise to post pictures and give you the run down over several days when we get back. Yes, it will probably take several days. We plan on a lot of pictures, since this is our FIRST official family vacation!! YEAH! Have a good week and God Bless!!

Cleaning Day

Well, today is the major cleaning day before our big trip. Yeah, our whopping two day trip. LOL!! I have a rule in the house that we will NOT leave until the whole entire house is clean. All dishes must be washed and drying. I do not expect them to be put away, but they must ALL be clean. All laundry for the most part must be done. There will be no trash left in the house. Of course we take it out in the morning right before we leave, but it must not be left. All beds made, etc, etc. I know its crazy, but we have enough to come back to with the laundry and being exhausted from our trip. I just hope I can get the trash out before it rains again. Walking in mud to put the trash out stinks. LOL!! Anyhow, that is my plans for the day, oh and keeping three children entertained. That will be fun. Anna is so excited that her cousins are coming over.


Speaking of cousins, one of them got a new hair cut, but not quite by choice. I think you know where I am going with this. I promised I would post a picture for family to see, so here they come.

Here she is! See the missing tooth, I love that look:

Avery and Anna together:

See, cute hair cut. Anna of course loves playing with her cousin, Avery. She is her best friend. Of course Anna is very open and pretty friendly with everyone, but there is something about her cousin that can't be beat. I pray that they keep a good relationship growing up. Anna absolutely adores her.

Alright, I better get back to it. This was a good way to procrastinate for a while. Have a good day. Take care all.

Sunday Morning, or was it?!?!?

Ok Sunday morning I was really out of it. I was insistent that it was Monday for a long time. (Don't ask me what happened to Sunday, but it was Monday in my brain.) Here is what happened:

In the morning, I woke up around 6:45am and looked at the computer and Jeremy was on it.

Nicole: You're going to be late for work.
Jeremy: I called in sick today.
Nicole: What did you do that for?
Jeremy: I felt like it.
Nicole: Oh.

I then went back to sleep for a little bit. I woke up about 20 minutes later and turned the TV on. Jeremy, of course, is still on the computer and has not said anything to the fact that it is indeed Sunday and not Monday. I put on PBS and there was JJ the Jet Plane, followed by Thomas the Train. We watch PBS every weekday morning, and that is NOT the regular line up. It is Arthur, Curious George, Clifford, Super Y, and then Dragon Tales. I have that line up memorized!! They better not mess with it!!

Nicole: They are messing with our shows.

I flip to what I think should be morning news and it is something else.

Nicole: What in the world? We are going to have to resort to watching movies every morning. I am not watching JJ and Thomas every morning. I mean they are good shows, but I like Arthur and Curious George better for Anna. What are they doing? UGH!

Jeremy just sits and continues to play on the computer. I am confused and semi-frustrated with all the morning show changes, so I lay back down for a few minutes and rest my eyes. I then sit straight up.

Nicole: Its not Monday, its Sunday and it Father's Day. How did I miss that? Oh my gosh, what is wrong with me??

I flip to channel 32, to confirm that it is indeed Sunday. (It shows the date and time in the bottom right hand corner.) Oh goodness. I felt confused and stupid at this point.

Jeremy then bursts out laughing.

Jeremy: I knew what day it was, but I was just playing along.

He didn't realize that I was really missing the day. UGH!

I really am not sure why that happened, or how, but I had completely missed that it was Sunday for like 40-45 minutes. It took me that long to realize that my brain was screwed up. UGH!! I really hope that NEVER happens again. I hate being confused like that.

Update to Father's Day

Well, since I didn't update yesterday, here is what we did for Father's Day. We went to church. Then we ate at Chicken Express and listened to the most wonderful Christian music and had the best biscuits we have EVER had at Chicken Express. Next, we came home and let Daddy take a nap, cause her wanted one. Anna and I went to Wal-Mart (cheap prices, but I hate going there...its always busy) and then I took her swimming to my brothers house. It was fun until a quick moving storm moved in and then is was everyone out of the pool. After that, we ate at my brother's house and gave my dad his gift. Next, it was on to Jeremy's Dad to give him his gift. Short and sweet, but that was our day in a nutshell. Here are some pictures of the craft gifts Anna did and her Grandpa's!!

What she gave Daddy:

(It's her hand print on a stepping stone block)

What she gave both Grandpa's Side One:

(Handmade by Anna, of course)

Side Two:

Anna with her Grandpa John:

Anna with her PawPaw:

One of my all time favorite pictures, its Anna with her Daddy:

I hope all you other Dad's out there had a great Father's Day. We had a great time for ours and I am sure Jeremy did too. He got to take an uninterrupted, Sunday afternoon nap, which is hard to come by in our house. LOL!! Take care and look for a funny story tomorrow of what happened to me Sunday morning. You will think it was funny, I really didn't. Stay tuned!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there!! I know you enjoy your special day as much as us mom's do. No, I did not get anyone a tie either. HAHAHA!! We have out grown that stage. No fun in a tie that no one will ever wear. We did get some neat things that Anna got to have fun with. I will post pictures later, AFTER we have given them. Smart, huh?! Have a good day all, especially you Dad's!!

Results are In!

Ok, my test results are in. They are about as useless to me as the paper they are printed on, but here are the results... this weird test he did tested my nerves and used my fingers. On my left hand....clear...no abnormal findings. This we already knew. On my right hand, my thumb test as very severe hypoesthetic finding and my middle finger tested moderate hypoesthetic findings. My pinkie on my right hand tested clear....no abnormal results. Hypoesthetic...I know, I know....don't use medical terminology. This means that the nerves in that part of my hand (which also extend upwards to shoulder, back and neck) are shot. We knew that already. Those pains I have been having are NOT normal. We knew that already too. He is not sure it is carpal tunnel and they are sending me to a neurologist. This is where I get confused. It is just my hand, isn't it? Well, not so sure now. My mom is worried that I too may have M.S. or even Lupus. Of course I need to see a neurologist to get the testing done. Again...more money and no insurance. I am trying to get some help from the county where we live to get to the bottom of this mess, but I am not holding my breath. Where we go from here is unknown. I keep praying that one day this will all be gone. I will have to tell them at work that I am going for neurological testing and will have to make sure that they know what is going on. I am not even sure at this point. I don't want a neurological disease. I know, we don't get to pick. I am sure that everyone who has one does not want one, but really. I am only 30 years old. Where do I go from here? Anyhow, that is the update on my hand testing. It may be worse than I originally thought. I will close for now. Keep praying for my family as I am still working to pay my mom's bills. Take care and God Bless.

Sleeping

OK! I know my daughter can't be the only one, but I think she sleep walks and talks?!?! Last night she came running out of her room and I caught her so I said, "What are you doing baby?" She says, "uhm, counting."
I said, "What are you counting?"
She said, " Sleeping."

So, I rocked her a minute and put her back to bed. She closed her eyes instantly and was snoring the instant I put her back down. It was odd. First of all, you can't count sleeping. LOL! As much as I laughed at her answer last night. Second, I asked her about it this morning and she said that she had the weirdest dream last night. She told me that she dreamed of a fair with Happy Go Lucky at it. Happy is a book about a horse we just finished and she loved. Anyhow, she doesn't remember getting up last night and talking to me at all. Do you think this is sleep walking and talking? Sure seems like it.

Test Done

Ok, so I had the nerve test done on my right arm/hand. It wasn't so bad, the doctor used new technology, so it didn't really hurt. It was aggravating, but it didn't hurt. He said that yes, I do have carpel tunnel in my right hand. So, now we have spent over $300 for tow different types of doctors to tell me the same thing I already knew...I have carpel tunnel in my right hand and badly! DUH!! It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. The original doctor will get the test results and refer me to a surgeon for the surgery, which I may or may not be able to get done, but the longer I leave it, the worse it will get. Where I am stuck, is I have no health insurance and I need the surgery. Go figure! Maybe I can find a surgeon that will take payments until we make it to the required amount and then go from there?! Praying that it will all work out. Anyhow, that is the results from my testing yesterday. It really was pathetic to go through more testing to confirm what we already knew, but apparently we have to follow the steps needed to get things done. Anyhow, I better go for now. Hope you all have a great day and pray that the right surgeon come along. God bless.

Newspaper

On Sunday morning, our little girls picture was in the newspaper for a thing we did with one of the home school groups. It was exciting and fun as we were expecting it, but we weren't sure when. Anyhow, here is a copy of the picture:

She was concentrating on making her own newspaper. It was a fun time and she and I both learned a lot from that experience. Here is a link to the full color picture and the article, so you can read what we were up to. I was excited to see her picture in the paper and her name was spelled correctly!! Yeah!! For those who don't know, our last name is not popular, nor is it hard, but everyone mis-spells it!! Anyhow, I just wanted to share our little star. Hope you all have a great day. Today is the day for my nerve study on my hand. Wish me luck. Take care all.

P.S. They are reprinting the corrected copy in today's paper. I will find that later and give you the new link. Today is the day for that test of mine (on my arm).

Painting

**Caution: This post is picture heavy!!!

Well, in spite of everything we did yesterday afternoon, when I was clearing the table to work on a puzzle, Anna got all excited about getting to paint. How did cleaning the table to work on a puzzle turn into an afternoon of painting? I mean seriously. I had no intention on painting. I was going to work on a puzzle. (My right hand is not in the best of shape right now., so it really hurts to use it so much.) Anyhow, we ended up pulling out newspaper, paint, and paper. Mixed up a few other colors, and I let Anna paint. She had a great time. Here are some pictures from her fun filled afternoon:

Our paint colors:

Working on her first picture (not sure what it was supposed to be):

Working on her fruit picture:

The start of her rainbow:

All four completed pictures:

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that one of them turned into a bunch of fingerprints. LOL! Who knew we weren't finger painting as well. LOL! I made her go wash her hands and that was when she came back and made a rainbow.

Here is a few more "painting" pictures. Did you know that painting now involves finger nails and toe nails. I ended up painting Anna's a nice purple, and when she was done, she wanted to do mine. I let her do my toes, as I really am not too crazy about polish on my finger nails. Here are some pictures of Anna doing her thing!!

This requires deep concentration:

A picture of the whole thing:

As you can tell we had a busy day yesterday. Yes, that is my arm in a brace. I have carpel tunnel, and go for the nerve conduction study tomorrow morning. I will save that post for another day though. (Oh yeah, we never did start that puzzle!!) Hope you all enjoyed the pictures. Have a good day and God Bless!

Skating

On Wednesday of last week, our church went roller skating. Anna and I had fun. I only skated 4 laps, then those skates HAD to come off. The size I wore hurt WAY too much, but the next size up was too big. What a predicament to be in. I got the fun of Anna yanking my arm off so she could keep skating. I walked her around with my shoes on. Here are a few pictures of the fun day:

Skating to the rink:

Being pulled VERY FAST by Mommy (love this face):
Of course, after doing that for a bit, most kids are bored. They also have those climbing jumping things, so here are a few pictures of Anna playing on that as well:

Going down head first:

Very cute, sweaty, girl:
As you can tell, we had a great time. The place was not air conditioned very well, and it was hot in there. We hope to do this more. Have a great Sunday and Happy June all. Three weeks from today, we take our mini family vacation!! WOO HOO!!