*A Letter of Thanks.....

This holiday season, I think my 4 year old son's teachers deserve to know how I appreciate them with WORDS. I know that bath lotions and coffee mugs are great, but how better can you show gratitude than something in writing?! (And cc'd to the Principal of course).

What it says:

Dear Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Darby,                                                                  12-16-10






I want the two of you to know you are so appreciated by me. While I will not be able to convey just how much, I will state some reasons why:


You are selfless and I think, probably very often overlooked in the school. Children (not much older than toddlers), are brought to you and you are responsible for and entrusted to enrich them. YOU ARE SPECIAL!!Most can not open their milk or juice alone, tie their shoes or hold their bladders, many can not blow their nose or wipe themselves properly or even tell you exactly what they need or how they feel.....you are MIND READERS!! You somehow.....magically, make them loved and important enough in school that they don't kick and scream every morning upon arrival. You keep them engrossed, even though they have attention spans of a gnat. You are AMAZING!! You let us parents feel secure and hopeful when we leave our love, pride and fears with you. YOU ARE SUPERHEROES!!


I know that you are not thanked nearly enough. And I know that you do not take care of our children to be thanked. It is just YOU! It takes a very specific type of person to be able to do the things you do. You take these undisciplined, school-foreign, runny nosed, pants wetting, whiny, germy, stubborn, loving, kids......YOU MUST BE INSANE!


You open 20-ish milks/juices, zip 20-ish jackets and count heads more times in a day than you probably slept in hours last night. Yet, you find the time to make each one feel special. And I thank you! My child loves you and smiles SO BIG when he talks about you! THAT means the world to me.






Best Wishes,




Jennifer Paradise


cc: Linda Marr

If your child/children have a special teacher or teachers, that go above and beyond their "job-descriptions" and really love what they do (even though we have no idea how they could)......please tell them. Then tell the principal too =)

Thank you for being AMAZING, Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Darby!!

*Fall



What a scrumptious past two days I have had. We have truly had some beautiful fall weather here and I have enjoyed every second of it. I feel like a butterfly that has finally left the cocoon. These past two months have been trying....physically and emotionally.

The kids started school:

Ariel is a sophomore, cheering, running cross country and is vice president of FCA.

Joey is in 2nd Grade and LOVES his teacher (and if I may say so myself, I LOVE her too). Joey has joined Cub Scouts and is VERY excited to get a uniform and he has decided that he may try to play basketball this year.

Corey is in Pre-K and goes to the elementary school with Joey. I take them every morning and they ride the bus home together in the afternoons. Corey has loved school wholeheartedly and was really upset when he had to miss a couple days due to a cold. His only dislike is when he has to be told it is time to get up from nap...ha ha. (And in case you are wondering, I have my sad, lonely, "my kids are growing too fast" moments, but for the most part, I have adjusted just fine as well).

The puppies, Layla and Beaux, are growing like weeds. They are almost 5 months old and FULL of energy (which I am not). They love to go for rides in the van and every day at 3:30pm, Layla stands in the living room window knowing that the bus is about to be here with the kids on it.

Joe's hand is healing up well. He is no longer in constant pain, but still does not have feeling in his finger or the side of his hand. The doctor did say that it could be about 6 months or so before he begins to feel anything. We hold out lots of hope still.



I had a follow up MRI for the spinal tumor and had (what I think is) wonderful news! The tumor has NOT grown in size but it has increased in signal??!! (Whatever that means). I will be discussing everything with my doctor at my next appointment and will pass along whatever he says. It has been a difficult time for me though, pain-wise. For whatever reason, it has been very rough here these last few weeks. I am thinking that maybe, at the very least, Joe and I should really consider buying a new bed. Maaaaybe it will help even a little.

Then, we had a nice gas leak here at the house. So, long story short.....our bird died, we have had no gas for a couple weeks (which makes cooking VERY interesting) and we will be tearing up our front yard and replacing all of the line in ground and also replacing what comes in to and under the house. Fun Fun Fun times =)

Right now I am SO SO SO looking forward to my Shelly and Eddie visiting for a couple of days next week. They are coming sans kiddos and we are farming ours out to my wonderful parents for a couple of the days they are here. This will be THE FIRST time we will have adult only time with our BFF's for longer than an evening out to dinner. *Sigh* We  are so excited that we don't even know what to do with ourselves. I do know that Eddie's plans are to go home with quite a few more tattoos though =)

That brings me to my very important order of business........WEDDING.......a tad shy of 9 months!!! Eeeeeek!!! It hit me like a lightning bolt last night. I guess now is when I bombard Joe with all of my hundreds of ideas on ten different decisions to be made at one time. Thankfully, most of the BIG things have been settled. The wedding blog link is here, if you would like to see more details. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful start to the Fall Season~



*I'm a selfish mom......

I knew this day would come. I have prepared for it since he was born. On August 23, 2010- my "baby", Corey,  will start school. 

 I cried on Ariel's first day of school. She smiled and waved at me, and the video camera I was holding, as I sobbed behind the lens. I cried on Joey's first day of school . Corey and I walked Joey to his class. With his backpack dwarfing him, Joey smiled and waved goodbye .......I had tears running down my face all the way home.

It is almost two weeks until the start of school and I am ALREADY crying. I don't know if it is because he is my "baby".......maybe because I know the house will be too quiet all day now- no more playing, talking and laughing with me all day.......could it be because he and I became super bonded when he was in his body cast for a couple of months when he was two? Whatever the reason, I am having trouble coming to terms with it. I KNOW he will have fun. I KNOW it is good for him socially and academically. I KNOW that he will live and so will I. But I have to say that I did start questioning whether or not to send him. It is Pre-K at the Elementary School. It is not mandatory, in fact, there are just 15 slots available and we happened to get in. Yes, I secretly hoped that we would get passed up so that Corey could stay home with me for one more year. But, for those of you who know me....what do I always say??? "Everything happens for a reason"!!

Since I have been home with the kids for the past three years I have become SO selfish. I almost never do anything without them. They have not even been "babysat" in three years, other than time with Granny and Pa Pa. I just do not enjoy tons of time away from them. I know to some of you parents I sound absolutely crazy, but it is true. I worked so much (see my earlier posts) before, that I have savored every fighting, laughing, potty training, hugging, kissing, movie repeating, heat rash having, body cast wearing, smiley face moment!!! I am SO thankful to have my children. The love and pride for them is immeasurable.

 So, where does this leave me? What will I do while someone else gets to hear all three of them laughing, making sure they eat, and telling them to stop finger painting with spit?!

*Sigh*