Fun at home

The kids are wonderfully obsessed with reading books. We read to them and they pretend to read to us. Meghan won't leave my bedroom without grabbing a paperback to carry around with her. Johnny gets to go to the school library and he loves to pick a new book each time.

This is a picture he took of his new book. It is very cute.

We took advantage of Bush's stimulus check last year to add a game system to our home. It has been 10 years so we thought what the heck....Johnny loves to play. He plays Tiger Woods golf and loves Wall-e. He is pretty good at it. I geuss he gets it from Kevin. (see below)

Father - Son bonding with a game controller in hand.

Meghan has the wildest baby fine hair. The only way I can get it to stay is to use a half a bottle of hairspray. So each evening she is a wild crazy girl. Here she is trying to get out of eating dinner. I am sure there is a good reason why the dogs lay at her feet while she eats, even though I haven't caught her feeding them.

Tarah is on the volleyball team float in the homecoming parade. She is full of plans for the dance and the game. There is a long list of things she "needs to buy" this week to get ready for it.

We are about to go on the wild adventure called Driver's Ed............I may have to hurry and get a job before they are all gone.

Our 8th anniversary

Tarah took our picture before we left for our favorite Irish pub. They had a live band night fundraiser that was a wonderful time! We didn't win any of the raffle prizes but Kevin bought me a cool T-shirt as a keepsake. They were raising money for a local Irish music retreat.

Here is "natural" us.
Here is us after Tarah makes us "open our eyes." We look surprised. Maybe it is because she is babysitting and being so sweet about it. Just Kidding. The kids had a great time playing with their big sister all night. She is a wonderful babysitter and we are very lucky to have her helping us out.

An evening at the local fair!

Additional notes: We went back to the fair on Sunday evening and Johnny decided to ride the Strawberry with me and meghan. They loved it although it almost made me sick. It's 97 degrees outside and God only knows how hot inside! Meghan hugged the Strawberry as we were leaving. I am so proud of Johnny for being brave enough to ride the strawberry!

Johnny has a best friend named Hannah. This is Hannah and her mom. Johnny does not like rides so Meghan filled in for him on the Strawberry.
Johnny and Meghan waiting in line for the trucks. This is the ONLY ride Johnny likes and he only rode it a couple of times. He has never liked motion. I think he gets that from his Dad.
Johnny and Meghan-fighting over who gets to push the buttons!
Johnny decides not to ride anymore and Meghan doesn't like being all alone.
So I get the last tickets to ride a grown-up ride!!!

Hannah rode with us for a while.
Meghan decides to try the elephants...she wasn't impressed!
Johnny waits on the sidelines for the girls to be done. He knows what he likes and what he doesn't. He did have a great time. We did a good job of only spending a few dollars and the kids got some much needed running around!

PIctures from the first day of School!!!

Tarah is in 10th grade this year. She has straight A's even in the advanced classes and is the manager for the Volleyball team. She has the same boyfriend as last year and she has a best friend and they are truly joined at the hip! We are very proud of all of her hard work. She turns 16 in March and is looking forward to a sweet sixteen party!
Johnny is so proud to be in school. He has a great teacher and loves to be there everyday. He comes home talking all about his friends and singing cute little school songs. He has writing homework almost every day but I am trying to help keep it fun for him. He walks into the school and to his class all by himself everyday now. He loves being a "big boy" and walking with his class. I still take my time buckling my seat belt just to be sure he makes it all the way to the door ok.
Meghan gets to be in the 2 year old classroom at Kids Day Out on Mondays and Wednesdays. Meghan has no fear and never even looks back when I drop her off. She has a wonderful teacher and gets to play with 4 little boys so she gets to be the "princess" of the class. I sub for the school on occasion and have a great time with the kids.
Here is Johnny at his open house for Kindergarten. We got to meet his teacher and make sure he knew his way all around the school.

With the kids in school it gives me time to get my work done during the day instead of having to work nights and weekends.

School is in and my little boy is all grown up....

The first two days I walked him to his classroom. He cried the first day but not the second. After that I walked him to the front door and he informed me that he was a big boy and could walk to his class by himself. He did a great job all week. He loves school and loves his teacher Mrs. King. He was actually sad that it is Saturday tomorrow. I will down load the pictures of Johnny and Tarah first days and add them to this post.

I am tired today. I spent the day at the car dealer with an egr valve issue. I did great at the gym yesterday. I stepped up my cardio to an hour and even did a few abs, then I sweated out some toxins in the sauna. I love the heat!

So far so good....

As most people say, "the prep work for the scope is so much worse than the actual procedure!!"
I agree 100 percent. The upper scope went well and I do not have an ulcer. They took biopsy's from 3 different sections to test for various things. The lower scope found several polyps which were removed and will be tested. Thank goodness they were removed early, I hate to think what they could have turned into by the time my recommended scope came around at age 50.

I should have all the test results back in a week and I am looking forward to treating my body better and using this to become much more healthy.

I have some beautiful pictures and then some that are not quite so attractive. Polyps are not pretty. I have chosen not to post them here. If anyone would like to see them I will be happy to share.

The day after tomorrow I can return to my gym workout and I am using my cleaned out state to help restore my digestive system in a probiotic way. I am a little crampy and my throat hurts so

I will be taking one more day to rest my body and then I am back to business!

Tuesday is the big scope day!

Well, I have been dreading it but Tuesday I finally hope to have some answers concerning my digestive health. I am having both scopes so that biopsy's can be taken from a variety of areas to try to find out what's wrong. They are checking for ulcers, Crohn's and Celiac's. No matter what they find I have already had to change my diet. Thankfully, between the diet and exercise, I can hope to be healthier than I have in a long time. Wish me luck....

Today I joined the gym!!!

They opened a 24 hour fitness around the corner with free child care and Tarah and I joined on Kevin's membership. I am fat and unhealthy but I am determined not to be by my 40th birthday which is in 16 months!

I have a nutrition plan and an exercise plan plus lot's of chances to work out. Plus this time I have no excuses. My doctor said this is a must for me and I want my pre-baby body back.

I am posting my progress in the hopes that it will keep me motivated!