"Go Mommy, Go! I know you can do it!"

I love having my very own cheerleaders <3

I must begin by confessing it has been a VERY, very long time since I worked out.  A very long time. I'm still having a lot of problems with my neck and back and that limits what I can do, but I think I let my brain limit more than they do!

Anyway, this morning I stepped on to the elliptical (and later the bike) and immediately my little cheerleaders (H & L) came running in with loads of encouragement :D  "Whoa Momma!  You doing it!"  "You are exercising, mommy!  Good job!", etc.  Harrison even counted to 100 for me many times and was super impressed that I was still going (don't be too impressed!  I only lasted 6 min on the elliptical and 20min on the bike LOL).  He told me to keep it up and I could go to infinity <3  Love that little man!

Yes, I realize...

I went MIA,  yet again.  6 whole months this time.  Bad kitty.  Bad, bad kitty.

So, what has happened during those six months?  A. LOT.

We moved from Eminence to Sarcoxie.  YAY!  The kids are settling in nicely and we own a ginormous, gorgeous yellow Victorian that was built in the 1800's...it truly is a dream come true (except for the very nightmare-ish parts!  Don't worry, I'll spare you the boring, gory details! Hopefully the nightmare parts will be over soon, and we'll be in love once more).

Kevin & I are coaching a 3rd-4th grade girls volleyball team.  Yes, you read that right.  Phew!

Ariana is running cross country and doing well, when she overcomes her mental blocks :)  Last week, she broke the school record as well as her own personal best time.  WTG!

Savannah is a JH Cheerleader :)

Olivia is playing volleyball.

Kyra & Emma are playing volleyball.

The little three are just being drug along wherever the rest of us go.

Because of the move, I decided to take a semester off from school.  Part of me misses classes and homework (no, I'm not insane) but part of me has really loved not going to class and the extra time I have with the family.  I'm kind of dreading going back, BUT I really don't want to be a student for the rest of my life, so I know it must be done!

Kevin is really enjoying his position as Superintendent of schools here - it's been refreshing to have things be so positive and not overwhelmingly negative all of the time.

He started like this...

And, then this...

And, this...

And, then this...

1yr

2yr

Can't seem to find 3.

4yr

5yr

SIX YEARS OLD!!! :faint

Where has time gone?!?! :sob

Catch up

Jan 22: Had an unpleasant trip to the ER with Layla (I will spare you the gruesome pictures!)  Her outer ears had become very infected, red & really swollen.  Cultures revealed strep & staph infection. Poor baby girl!  With the help of some strong antibiotics she was as good as new in no time!!

Jan 23: My princess turned 12!!  Where or where does the time go?  This little jewel came busting into this world a whole month early weighing a whopping 6lbs9oz!  She's such a joy.  Oh, and please be sure to call her 'Gabby' as this is the name she now goes by! LOL  Here is my sweet thing:


Jan 25 Poor Livy-bean gets really sick from Influenza B.  She got hit the worse and had a terrible time :(

















January 30th I celebrated my birthday.  We won't discuss numbers ;)

Jan 31 Kyra has surgery at Children's to have a lymph node removed & biopsied

Feb 17 - Ariana was nominated as Freshman class Homecoming Queen Candidate.  She was stunning! 

Feb 25th - Kevin and I went to Springfield & Branson for the weekend to celebrate our 13th anniversary!!  

My poor blog

My poor blog & 365 Flickr attempt has once again fallen by the wayside :(

I'd promise to be a better blogger, but every time I do I fail. Therefore, I'm just going to say I will see you when I see you....err, rather you'll see me when you see me :)

I am going to post some pictures and update on the past month and a half :)

I hope the new year has been kind to you so far and we're all enjoying a gorgeous Spring very, very soon!

Peace, love and all that good stuff!

Me

Me
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

1-18-11

Just me

Long day

Long day
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

Taken 1-17-11

Poor Kyra had a long day at school & passed out on the couch with Izzy while Kevin & I were fixing dinner <3

Love you!

Love you!
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

Taken 1-17-11

Harrison just fell in love with these bears at Wal-Mart <3 He kept saying we needed to take them home so they could tickle him ;)

Ariana

IMG_2183 (640x480)
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

Just a quick picture I took of Ariana tonight before she left for 659 :)

Gorgeous sunset

Gorgeous sunset
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

We had an absolutely beautiful sunset this evening. The pictures I took just did not do it justice.

Reading before bed

Reading before bed
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

Caught Harrison last night, reading before bed.

Lizard eats Emu

Lizard eats Emu
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

My silly kids are always playing pranks on me :) This is what I found when I got ready to put my boots on and leave for class this afternoon. Needless to say, it made me look twice!

Silly boy 3

happy
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

I explained this is good toilet paper and not the kind that leaves stuff on your bum, and he's finally decided it's ok to use. LOL Silly boy.

And, yes, he has on blue eye shadow LOL Apparently Olivia was giving make-overs :D

Silly boy 2

mad
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

He says it makes him mad and he will NOT use it, because this is the kind of toilet paper that leaves stuff on your bottom and that's just GROSS!!!

Silly boy

sad
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

Ok, I have to explain the funny series of pictures. A couple of weeks ago when we bought this toilet paper at Sam's, H was NOT happy! We're typically Q.N. users, but had a coupon for this kind so we got it. He said he did NOT like it and would not use it....

Snow!

Snow!
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

Sometimes having an hour and fifteen minute commute to class really stinks. Ok, most of the time it stinks! We were in the middle of class last night and at break one of my classmates mentioned her husband had texted and said the roads in MV were getting really bad and were slick. Seeing as how I have to drive through MV, I got a bit nervous. Several of us decided to bail early. The roads weren't bad at all & I ended up missing out on some important information. BAH! I guess better safe than sorry, though.

Oh, and as for why Ariana was with me. She had loads of homework and said she'd like to go along and work on it where it was nice and quiet LOL She got most of it done before we had to leave ;) She's such a good kid!

Good morning!

Good morning!
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

My two blonde beauties enjoying a cuddle this morning <3

Girls Night Out

Girls Night Out
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

As you can tell, Ariana LOVES it when I take her picture LOL.

The two of us went out yesterday. She sold some candy bars, we went shopping & then went to the movies. We had a really great time - I love spending time with her <3

Saturday night

Saturday night
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

You know it's been a good Saturday when it ends like this :P

A little more info on medical issues

Kyra has an appt with pediatric surgeon at Children's on Tues. It's a consult to discuss the biopsy. While it may change, we're looking at an open biopsy as opposed to a needle biopsy  

Olivia has been referred back to her ENT and a pulmonologist for her obstructive & central sleep apnea and breathing issues. They mentioned the possibility of some structural issues that could cause positional asphyxia (this would explain her issues in the car) Her appt with the pulm is Feb 2 and they said to expect a 3-4hr appt  They said they'll likely want to do allergy testing, chest xrays, pulmonary function tests, etc. 

I'm doing well with it all. I just have a feeling that everything is going to be ok. 

Sleepy boy

Sleepy boy
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

Another long, exhausting day traveling for doctor's appts, as you can see ;)

We found out today from sleep specialist that Olivia needs to see the pulminologist as well as ENT for her sleep apnea. Also saw family dr and set up Kyra's appointment with the surgeon (Tues) to arrange her lymph node biopsy.

Another long day

Zzzzzzzz
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

We went with daddy to the doctor's office today. He had his follow-up with the sleep doctor. Things are looking good!

After his appointment we went to West Plains to do some shopping and buy my books for next semester :)

Izzy

Izzy
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

She's got it all figured out :) Wouldn't we all like to spend our chilly morning curled up on the couch with a blanket, catching some zzzzzz's??

Day 4 of thanks

I wrote a note to our oldest daughter, Ariana.  She is such an amazing young woman.  She's responsible and helpful and I wanted her to know how  much I appreciate her help lately.  She's babysat the kids for us and has done a great job helping out <3

Day 3 of thanks

I just sent a  note to a dear, new friend of mine.  She is a former classmate of Kevin's and we connected via Facebook.

She is such an inspiration to me!  She is always so positive and uplifting.  I've never heard (well, read LOL) anything negative come from her and that's so refreshing.  She makes me want to strive to be more positive and look on the bright side more often :)

Day 2 of thanks

I sent a note to a friend & classmate who has generously offered to let me borrow one of her textbooks for this semester.  It was a very generous offer and will save me some $$!

Day 1 of thanks

I just sent a quick note to Mr. Kerley, our music teacher, letting him know how much we appreciate him & all he does for our kids and the music program <3  He always goes above and beyond and works extremely hard.  His dedication is inspirational.

365 notes of thanks

A wonderful friend (<3) gave me the idea for this and I'm going to give it a try.  I may not succeed, but that's not going to stop me from trying.

The project is to write a note to a different person each day for a year thanking them for something they've done - showing your appreciation.

I think it's a lovely idea :)

Since today is the 5th, I have some catching up to do, but I'm going to start now!

Miss Kyra

Miss Kyra
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

We took Ky to see the allergist today. She was referred by our family doctor due to enlarged lymph nodes that have lasted a couple of months as well as a raised eosinophyl count. He'd started her on Claritin first to see if it might be allergy related, but her numbers did not change.

She saw the allergist and we got good news - sort of. Turns out she is NOT allergic to anything, however the options aren't great. He's sent us back to family dr to get a referral to a surgeon to have the lymph nodes biopsied and possibly removed.

Exhaustion

Exhaustion
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard
We just got home from a long day in Springfield & Miss Layla is taking her breathing treatment and then hitting the hay :)

We got up at 6am, and was out the door by 7:20. We made the drive to Springfield where I had a PT appt. The ILs met us at the Surgery Center and watched the kiddos during my appt (LOVE them!)

Once my appt was over we took Ariana to her eye appointment and discovered what we'd feared...her eyes have gotten WAY worse!! Went from 3.00 in each eye to 4.00 in one and 4.25 in the other!! YIKES!

Afterwards, we took my FIL out to lunch at Golden Corral. (Happy Birthday, Pop!)

Then, we headed to Target to let Ariana get some new make-up & and then took her to Salon Truth where she experienced eye brow waxing for the first time. We shopped at Sam's and then got headed home. We got here about 6:30 and we're ready to crash!! More of the same tomorrow as Kevin & Kyra have to go back to Springfield to see the allergist!

Sleeping sisters

Sleeping sisters
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

We were all taking turns playing Guitar Hero....went looking for these two and found them taking a little nap ;)

Happy New Year!

New Year's!
Originally uploaded by melanie.goddard

We rang in the new year with our wonderful friends Daniel & Erin Burton and their 4 gorgeous daughters: Noah, Sage, Eden & Iris. We had a blast! It was such a great time!

In this picture we are playing Ticket to ride :)