A simple little email

I got a simple little email today that let me know I have been "deemed eligible to test" for FNP certification. Not a big deal to them or anybody else probably, but it made me very happy. I am so anxious to take the test and start doing something. Alas, I have to wait for the actual paper to be snail mailed to me before I can schedule a date, but at least I have chipped away at the mountain that this process has become. What an archaic system. BUT I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Happy day!

This from Ethan

to a character on his game......"You're so stupid, you're stupid!"

He is cute. And I know what you're all thinking......why can't that be my kid?

Our Trip to West Virginia

I hate living in the sticks. ONE DaY I will have fast internet. One day......

Anyway, went to West Virginia last week. John's mom had surgery so we wanted to be there to help take care of her after she got home. She did well during and after surgery. A couple of good bruises, but looks like an pretty good recovery.

We got to see one of the Google cars that takes the pictures you see when you search an address. That was fun.

I am getting to be a bit of a homebody. If I can't go to the beach, I just want to stay home. Old I am getting.

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A little break from being in the car for too long

Stopped at a fun looking waterfall in Lexington on the way home from West Virginia. It was a nice break for everyone. Too much close quarters. And Emily still brings rock souvenirs home from these types of adventures. I love it. We still have all of her rocks. We are going to start a rock garden in the front yard for her collection.

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Going to West Virginia is a little bit like........

..... going back in time.

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Hydrangea Update

Doesn't it look so pretty?

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After weeks of sweat and hard labor....

....it's almost finished. Only a drain to fix and put the caps on the wall and the stairs. We love it. Spend much more time outside now. When it's not too hot or we are getting eaten alive. There aren't enough citronella candles in any store to fight the bugs off this year. They ARE cRaZy! We all worked hard on the patio. It was hard work. "Slave labor" if you ask the kids. We all wore holes through the fingers of our gloves. And those little paving stones are heavier than they look. We went through 9 pallets. We were dreading cutting the stones to finish off the borders but that turned out to be the easiest job of all. Always go for the big tools. Rented a wet saw. It was amazing to watch the blade cut right through the stone like a loaf of bread. We already can't wait stuff to it.....furniture, plants, a fireplace, some lighting.

Well...pictures will follow since blogger is not cooperating!

Ahhh....day 2 of trying to get pictures loaded. After 3 tries....finally.

A Flower

A Hydrangea!!   It makes me very happy.   I planted Hydrangeas and Hostas and they look lovely.   Well except for the Hosta that got eaten back to the stalks by the deer.   It's nice to see my yard finally coming together a little.

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Our engineer

John is planning to be an engineer. And look what he has made at school. He has amazing skills! That car started off as a big triangular block of wood. They had to make a design for it and then carve it out. They made holes in the back for CO2 cartridges and raced them. And he also built the house. Doesn't that look like fun? Had to design the plan, know the scales and whatnot. He is very good at this kind of thing. You cannot believe the classes that he is going to have to take in the next 3 years to prepare him for engineering school. Wow! He may change his mind next year. He has to take Algebra 2 in the fall and PreCal in the Spring. Then 2 more years of calculus. 10th grade year is going to be nasty. With all that math he also has a full schedule. If he survives, senior year will be a cake walk. You'd think they would just spread out the classes so that they don't have such a burden in the 10th grade. ???? Well, ya know, it will keep him out of trouble in the 10th grade, right? I hope! ;) We are so proud of all our kids. They are amazing!

Again with the tissues....

Awards day for the 7th graders. One special 7th grader in particular. Won every award they had except for math. Had the highest grades on his team (got a special honor for that). Which means, out of about 250 students, Ethan was among the top 8. Got one point away from a perfect score on his math SOL. We will have to wait until later in the summer to receive the other SOL scores. Why it takes them all summer to let us know the scores is beyond me. It is a computerized test, so you'd just think..... He really put forth a lot of effort this year. He studies every day after school (even when there is no homework) without being asked (for the most part). Plays football. Plays the PS3 (WAY too much). Loves history. Very level headed for someone his age. Still got a little bit of Mr. Magoo in him. Saying that he wants to be a surgeon right now. Or a lawyer. ???? Good to have choices. Heading off to the Junior High in the fall.

Where ARE my tissues?????

Emily graduated from 5th grade this year! Can't believe it! I didn't think I would get so emotional. Didn't really hit me until the middle of the ceremony. Oh my! And isn't that dress so cute? She tried everything in the store on, really wanted that one from the start, but I was thinking I wanted something a little more 3 year oldish. Eh, well....sue me. She won a medal for honor roll, got perfect scores on Reading and Math SOL tests. And the Linda Glass Reading Award. No surprise there. She can read 4 or 5 books at a time. She keeps them all opened and stacked on top of each other to hold her place. HOW does she keep up with the stories? That would be so confusing for me. School has been out for about 3 weeks now and she has already read about 12 or 13 books. The blonde woman is her teacher, Mrs. Whitt. The woman in the purple shirt is the librarian, Mrs. Gilley. Emily has decided that she is going to be a librarian. And I didn't even get a picture of her receiving her big reading award. My camera has a love/hate relationship with the auditorium at that school. It was in hate mode when she posed on stage at that moment. So she won almost every award they were giving out that day. No child of mine will ever win perfect attendance. I firmly believe in mental health days. Everybody needs one every now and then. And there was a little girl who got recognized for perfect attendance from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Wow!

So, now we gear up for middle school. Will we survive???? We'll keep ya posted.