Weekly Update - 2 for the price of 1!

I started this post on Saturday (5/24), but I'm just now getting back to it... oh well! This is going to be a long post, so I apologize up front!

It's been a busy week, both at work and and home.

On Monday night (5/19) our office had a get together for dinner at Connor's. It was delicious! I had one of the best steaks ever. We had a great time together, and it was fun to be able to relax for a bit. The rest of the week was crazy at work... lot of things to get done before the end of school. While the kids got out early on Thursday, I had a full work day, and had to work on Friday. We had our end of the year celebration at Bob Jones on Friday morning, and as a surprise we were all allowed to go home afterwards instead of going back to work! We were all very happy for that! I will still have to run back over to work on Tuesday and get a few things finished up, though. Oh well... at least I can go in when I want and leave when I want.

Kayti and Josh had finals to study for this week, while Kyle and Megan had class parties. They all did very well on their final report cards for the year, and are looking forward to a relaxing summer. Kayti is going to be taking an AP US History class next school year, which requires summer work. We go pick up her book on Tuesday, so her summer won't be quite as relaxing as she would like. At the end of the school year she will possibly get college credit for the course if she can pass the exam, and she will get 2 of her History credits out of the way with just one course.

Megan had a doctor's appointment this week to check up on her asthma. She did much better on her breathing test this time, soher meds are working well... YEA!!!  We go back in 6 months for another recheck.

Friday afternoon the kids and I went out to Bridge Street to walk around. Kayti, Kyle and Megan conned me into getting them some ice cream, so Josh and I split a yummy Monster Pecan Apple from the Chocolate Crocodile (it's a huge caramel apple, covered in chopped pecans, then drizzled in both milk and white chocolate!). To quote Rachael Ray, it was YUMMO!! I told the kids not to tell their Aunt Kristi that we were in the CC... but almost as if she sensed something, she called me about 25 minutes later! I told on us, but let her know that we only bought something that we couldn't get from her shop! I do wish she would start making them, though!

 Saturday was Kayti's 16th birthday. I was pretty much an emotional basket case all day, and very moody to boot. Kayti and I had a big disagreement on how she should spend her birthday, but after much persuading from both her and her dad, I decided that it was her birthday, and she should be able to spend it how she wants. She tried to throw together a last minute party, but none of her friends were available. Instead she told me that she would like to spend her time with me, shopping or going to a movie. Made me feel even worse about being such a rain cloud throughout the day, but I felt honored that she would want to spend the time with me. I know that there are coming days when she will want nothing to do with me. I surprised her and took her to the newest theater in town, the Monaco. She was quite awe-struck, which was fun to see. We went to see Prince Caspian, and it was really good. We then grabbed some Chick-Fil-A for the whole family and came on home. We were too tired and stuffed after dinner for cake, so we waited until after church and dinner on Sunday to dive into that.

Earlier that morning our youth from church got together for a four-mile hike to help get them ready for their upcoming Pioneer Trek. Kayti was really ticked at me because they had to be there at 6:00 AM and she wanted to sleep in. Besides wanting her to get ready for trek, I also wanted her out of the house for a while so we could officially welcome her into our Laurel class at YW. Sis. K and I (and any of the other Laurels as we can get) secretly decorate the bedroom doors of our girls on their birthdays. We basically tie a big bow on the door and heart-attack the door. We write messages on the hearts, and leave them  their favorite king-sized candy bar as well. So, while Kayti was gone, I put on my Laurel leader hat, and got her door all done. She was so tickled when she came home and saw it. She still hasn't taken everything down, but her candy has been long gone!

Barry had to work on Memorial Day, so while he was gone the kids and I prepared a "BBQ Feast" as a surprise for him when he got home. We had burgers, steaks, smoked sausages, hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, watermelon, cantaloup, pineapple, fruit dip, and a peach trifle. The weather had been a little cloudy all day, but about the time that I needed to get the food on the grill, a storm started blowing in. I quickly got the burgers on the grill, came back in to grab something, then by the time I got back out again, the flame had gone out on the grill. I'm not sure if the wind blew it out, or if we ran out of gas, but I decided to for-go a fight with the grill and the weather, and just cook everything inside.

On Tuesday I took Kayti to go pick up her APUSH book (aka - Advanced Placement US History). She will have to read/take notes on the first 6 chapters of the book over the summer, then be prepared for a test on the first day of school. After that, we headed over to my work. I planned on getting several things done, but someone was borrowing my desk, so I came away feeling like I really didn't do very much. Afterwards Kayti and I went and got pedicures. I was still feeling like a cad over her birthday, so this was my last present to her. Later that evening the kids and I went and picked up Barry from work so we could head to his parents house for dinner. Barry's Grandma Mayfield, aunt, and cousin flew into town last week, and so we went over for a visit. We haven't seen his Grandma in about 9 years, and his aunt and cousin in 15 years or so. It was a fun visit, and fun to find out new things about both Great Grandma, and Grandpa Mayfield!

School got out a week ago today, and I have to admit that we have pretty much been lazy bums since then. It has been nice, but I'm now feeling too guilty over not getting anything done. Tomorrow morning I start sewing Kayti's trek clothes, which should prove interesting! I haven't really sat down in front of my machine in a LONG time, so I hope I can remember how to still run the thing! Hee hee!!

Kayti is finally having her friends over tonight, so I should get busy getting the house cleaned... or at least get busy making the kids get the house clean! I plan on digging out some of my favorite pics of Kayti in the next day or so and posting them... and  pics from her birthday as well.

Discovering a new love

Josh has always loved sports, and I figured that sports would always be his only real interest. This year, though, he had to take a Drama class at school, and he now has a new love... acting! He had one of the main parts in his class play, "Who Killed Kevin". He was in almost every scene of the play, and had the most lines to learn. He worked really hard, and it was unusual to see him without his script in his hand over the past month. His class performed the play this week, and Josh did such a great job! He played an old man in a retirement home named George, and he had a great "old man voice" and walk. Here are a few pics of him:

"Doctor, doctor. Give me the news...

...but I'm really tired of seeing you!!!"

Things have been a bit crazy at our house lately. Megan has been recently diagnosed with Asthma. She developed a bad cough a couple of months ago. At first she was treated for allergies, but on her recheck we discovered that she has asthma. She is now taking even more medication, and has to have an inhaler on her as well. She takes Advair every morning and night, and Zyrtec, Singulair, and Advair at night. The doctor thinks that this is something that she could grow out of, and we are hopeful that this will be the case.

I had to take Josh to the doctor a few months ago as well because he needed to have his back checked for scoliosis. He was sent for x-rays, and it was discovered that he does have a slight curve in his spine. Nothing to worry about for now, but it will have to be watched.
I had to take him back to the doctor a couple of weeks ago because he had pink eye! Two days out of school, and lots of eye drops later, and he was pronounced healed!
Today he comes down to see me after PE, and his finger is hurting. He had it bent all kinds of sideways during a volleyball game. We iced it down, and the nurse told him that if it was still hurting in an hour to come back and see her. Well, here he came a little while later, with the finger swollen even more. The nurse checked it again, and suggested that we have it looked at by the doctor. Our family doctor closes early on Friday, so we had to go over to the Urgent Care Center. It was x-rayed, and thankfully no break was detected. He was still given a splint to wear for a week, and an excuse to be out of PE for a week. I'm tempted to lock him in his room for a while to save my sanity and my bank account!

Panoply

Barry and I took the kids out to Panoply on Friday night. This is a local arts festival held every year in Huntsville on the last full weekend in April. We have been going for several years now, and have always enjoyed ourselves. This year was no exception, and we all enjoyed spending time together. Kyle and Megan had a ball making all of the arts and crafts for kids. They made masks, disc-fish and clay creatures. We sat and listened to Celtic Fiddlers; a family of 3 girls playing fiddles, with mom and dad playing along on piano and other instruments. Josh and Kyle got very bored with this very quickly, but the rest of us enjoyed them. We walked around and visited the student art tent, which featured some amazing pieces from school-aged artists across the valley. It always amazes me to see how talented these kids are. A lot of the tents/vendors were not set up yet, which really was disappointing, but we consoled ourselves in some yummy food! Barry had never had a funnel cake before, which I thought was amazing, so I insisted that he have one. While Kyle and Megan were busy making clay creatures, Barry wandered over to the food vendors, and when we caught up with him, he had a plate full of hot funnel cake, covered in powdered sugar. We promptly helped him inhale it, then helped ourselves to some pizza, grilled corn on the cob, a gyro, corn dogs, and Kayti's favorite... chicken on a stick!

Here are a few quick pics of our evening. Enjoy!


Megan loved these ducks, and thought that they looked like a cross between a duck and a chicken, so she started calling them, "Chucks"!


Check out Barry's blog to see the great pic he took while we were there.

ABC's of me

A- Attached or single: Attached, to my wonderful hubby, Barry
B- Best Friend: Barry... and my daughter, Kayti
C-Cake or Pie: Both, please!
D- Day of Choice: hmm... this is a tough one. I love Fridays because it means the weekend is here. I love Saturdays usually, but they can be awfully crammed full of things that have to get done, or activities to run kids to. I do love Sundays as well, because they are so relaxing, but they also mean the weekend is over.
E- Essential Item: My family, and pajama pants!
F- Favorite Color: I find myself really drawn to greens right now.
G- Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Sour gummy worms are pretty dang good!
H- Hometown: Born in Fayetteville, Tn, but I really feel that Madison is home.
I- Indulgence(s): Cheeburger, Cheeburger Fries, and Sonic peanut butter fudge shakes.
J- January or July: July! I'm a warm weather kind of girl.
K- Kids: 4 fabulous kiddos - Kayti (almost 16), Josh (14), Kyle (12) and Megan (11)
L- Life is incomplete without: my family close around me
M- Marriage date: June 11, 1991
N- Number of Siblings: 3 sisters, 1 brother, 7 sisters-in-law (and another one soon!!) and 9 brothers-in-law
O- Oranges or Apples: both, with a little fruit dip on the side!
P- Phobias or Fears: bridges
Q- Quote: "In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."~Gordon B. Hinckley. I love this quote, and have it framed on my wall.
R- Reason to Smile: Date nights with my hubby, babies, new movie rental and a bowl of popcorn
S - Sappy or Adventure Movie - Sappy, for sure
T- Tag: everyone
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I would like to be ambidextrous (able to write as well with my left hand as my right). Does that sound too lame?
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I'm a full blooded carnivore, to quote my daughter.
W- Worst Habit: biting my nails
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: I've usually had better outcomes from the ultrasounds... babies!
Y- Your Favorite Food: Does sugar count as a food? I have a crazy sweet-tooth! Although there are times that the only thing that will "hit the spot" is a good steak. 
Z- Zodiac: Aquarius

What not to do...

... to your school secretary on Secretary's Day: Have a Code Red drill, without telling her beforehand that it is a drill!!! I answered the phone this morning, and it is one of our local police officers, calling to tell me that we need to put the school under Code Red, or lock-down. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, it means that there is an inturder in the school, or danger headed to the school, and the school must be locked down, literally. Talk about freaking me out!!! I ran and got our principal, who told me to call it over the intercom, and then we went into action. She then pulled us aside and let us know that it was just a drill, but the rest of the school didn't know it, and we needed to keep it that way. I at least could breath again when she said that, and we spent the next 30 minutes or so with police officers going through the school. They were testing to see how prepared we were, and it turns out that we did very well.

Our principal made it up to us by buying us lunch today.... yummy Casa Blanca!! She said she was sorry to scare us so badly, but we all did a great job, and exactly what we were supposed to do. We did field calls the rest of the day from parents; some thankful that we kept their kiddos safe, and practiced keeping them safe, and some ticked off because we didn't let them know before hand that we were going to be doing a drill.

So, to all you secretaries (or Professional Administrative Assistants if you prefer), I hope you had a great day, and your boss did something great for you!!

Pay-backs

One of our Assistant Principals at school, Mr. H, is a HUGE prankster. The man loves nothing more than to get one over on someone. Last week our principal and her husband went out of town for a few days, so some of us in the office thought it would be a great time to finally pull one on him! We each took turns calling his voice-mail one morning and letting him know that we were sick and wouldn't be coming to work that day. I know it was mean, but we were actually coming,and he deserved to sweat it for a few minutes! Well, we did "get him" and we all laughed about it, including our principal! Mr. H called her and "told on us", but she thought it was great!

This week 2 of us have actually been sick, or have had sick kids. I took a planned day off today to do some fun things for myself... haircut, manicure, pedicure, shopping (you get the idea!), and guess what... I am sick today! I still managed to get out, but I've had the sniffles and coughs all day. Josh is also home with pink-eye. I think this must be a "cosmic pay-back" and one that I'm sure Mr. H will get the biggest kick out of. To quote Scar in the Lion King, "Life's not fair, is it...?"