You never know

You never know what you will wake up in the morning and find out. I have experienced this first hand several times over the last week in particular. If you know our family, then you know that Tim deals with his epilepsy daily, and most days the medicine cooperates, and some days it doesn't. There is no pattern, and we NEVER know when he will wake up and feel like something is going to happen with his seizures. This week, being back to school week for Mommy, was of course the perfect timing for this to happen. Of course I know my husband has no control over this, it just makes it a little harder to deal with during school times. School was tough at the beginning of the week, with me staring down 80 boxes of computers and monitors to be unboxed at some point during the week. Had to miss Open House due to Tim's health - so already I am feeling like a loser with my new staff. But then Friday came, and our staff development days had gone so well, and Tim went back to work feeling much better with an increase in his medicine levels, and I am thinking - WOW.....everything is looking up for the weekend!

And then I wake up Saturday morning at 8:00 am to my mother calling me to tell me that my dad's mom, our Nanny as we called her, had died in her sleep this morning at her nursing home. We had just moved her there after almost 2 years of trying to care for her at home with advanced Alzheimers. My parents debated for months, and put off moving her earlier in the spring when my Mom's mother fell ill and died in early February. They had just moved Nanny to her new room this week, and we had put in a TV and a corkboard full of pictures of the grandkids for her to look at between visits. And now she is gone, and I have no more living grandparents. A blessing for her - she is no longer suffering, confused, and is with my Papa again - she has missed him for 30 years. For us that are left, we are confused, suffering, and missing her now. It is so hard to think that we won't see her again, or tell her that we love her again in person. My children just lost one great-grandmother, and now they are losing their last one. They still cry for Grandmother, now I have to tell them about Nanny?

Sometimes we don't understand - so for right now, I have to make it through tomorrow of telling my children what has happened, make it throught the first 3 hours of registration day at school, then make it through my Nanny's funeral that afternoon without breaking down in front of anyone in the entire process. It is tough putting a face on for the world.

I will make it - because I am a mom and I have to.

Best Vacation Ever

We just returned from our first family trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We had an amazing time - we went from 7am most days to 10pm at night on almost every day! We had a few afternoons of short rain showers, but other than that the weather was hot and Florida like! We managed to hit EVERY ride in all 4 parks, one water park, the hotel pools, etc all in 8 days. We had lots of great restaurants that we dined in (we love the Disney Dining plan!) and even ordered pizza in our room one night that it rained us out of the parks early. The kids were happy and running around the whole time! This caused lots of stress on Mom and Dad as we were constantly monitoring them and making sure they were with us, etc - but we both made it. Tim and I are exhausted, we have a mountain of dirty laundry, but I would not trade it for anything. This was one of those vacations I hope they will remember as they get older. More specific posts on stories that happened throughout the week are coming soon.
Now on to the laundry......

Our newest family Member, Ginger, in her first trip out in the snow! If you haven't heard about Ginger, she is the Husky/Heeler Mix puppy we got for free on the Sunday after Christmas. We were driving home after a long, hard day out and saw a family with "Free Puppies" on their sign. After stopping to look, we fell in love. There were 13 puppies in the litter, and Tim helped pick out one of the smallest, prettiest pups. She was one of only 2 or 3 girls. She has been a great additon to the family. She is very calm and just loves to play with the kids and chase them around! She and Bo have even managed to become good friends and play a lot together.