Shameless Bragging

The house we rent was built in 1938. There are things I love about this house. The kitchen is not one of them. We don't have a dishwasher, consequently, we have a drying rack for dishes and that literally takes up all the counter space in our kitchen. ALL of it. No we do not have the world's largest dish rack. We don't have any counter space.

Jeremy set out to solve this problem and he came up with this lovely island. He made it himself. When I say he made it himself, I do mean he made all of it. He glued the oak and iron wood together to make the striped top. He welded the steel base together. He cut the shaped wood pieces on the sides. He added a dishtowel rack and hooks to hang pots.

I'm going to shamelessly brag on my man. He's good.

Last Day of School

First Day of School

Hallelujah we survived the school year. I wasn't sure we were going to make it there at the end.



My kindergartner who happily declared she is now a first grader the second she got off the bus for the last time.

I always say it, what a difference a year makes, well school year that is. Emma has excelled at school this year. I was so worried she would have a hard time because she is definitely the most clingy of my children. But apparently not at school. She pretty much took kindergarten by storm - reading, writing, math all of it well above her grade level.  She loved school. Loved it. A lot. I hope her enthusiasm can continue through 1st grade.

 

My third grader that I had to practically tackle to get this picture.

This girl has grown up so much. For the first time she took it upon herself to get her homework done without me having to nag...very often. In fact, she usually had it done before she got off the bus. Third grade was full of ups and downs for Madilyn. She doesn't love school the way Emma does but she still does great. She represented her school at the district science fair and took third place. She is also reading at a 7th grade level. So proud of her.

I'm so excited have them home for the summer. At least I will be until they start fighting nonstop which will probably take about 10 minutes on the first day. Summer here we come!

Third Times a Charm

Emma got her third set of ear tubes on Friday. None of us were as worried about it as we were the first time...or the second...or the time in between those two when the holes from the first set had to be patched.

Everything went as planned. For the first time, she didn't wake up screaming and thrashing about from the anesthesia. She was smiling and talking, slightly slurred, to the nurse.

In 48 hours we have seen a dramatic change. I didn't realize how much she had truly been missing.

As it turns out the fluid in her ears had pushed her ear drums so they were flat, consequently they didn't vibrate. She had the hearing of a 70 year old.

Before the tubes she frequently played by herself while our family chaos went on around her. (Emma is a daydreamer so that's not completely unusual.) But in the last two days I have realized how much she had been missing because she simply couldn't hear what was happening around her.

Friday evening she said, "Thank you for getting me ear tubes. I like that I can hear."

So do I.

I wish we would have realized sooner. But I'm grateful we live in a time when the problem can be easily fixed. There's no permanent damage and she SHOULD outgrown the problem in a year or two.

Hopefully.

Its Come At Last

In May of 2003 I graduated from the University of Puget Sound and like many of my fellow graduates I had some student loans to pay off.

And guess what?

That's right

Done diggity done!

Student loans paid off as of May 2013.

Woohoo! I really wish I had a picture of my alma mater buuut I don't. I'm glad I have my bachelor's degree but even more glad to have it paid off.