Spring Reading Thing 2007

Updated with 2 new books!!!


What am I thinking. I don't have time for anything, but I will make time to read. It has been a long time since I picked up a book and read it cover to cover. Very, very sad.

This list is (hopefully) just the beginning of me getting back to reading thanks to Katrina at Caterpillar Days.


This is the list of books I would like to get to, but I am only committing to reading 2 books. If I get more done then I am ahead of the game. With a new puppy to train and bring to puppy kindergarten along with my 2 children (and husband) 2 books will be hard enough to get through. But I will commit to all 3 chapter books with my daughter!!

Let the reading begin!!!

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

Marley & Me by John Grogan

I will read 3 chapter books with Emma from her Judy B. Jones collection. Book 2, 3, & 4 of the series. We already read the first one.

Read to Me Update

I am chiming in a little late with this update, but it went well.

The children LOVED me reading to them again. It really helps them focus and have some down time.

I started buy picking the books out for the children. After about a week, I picked out one book and they picked out 2 books. Emma listened to all of the books. Timmy listened to the books he picked out (they were more on grade level for him). Emma also has started reading to Timmy a book a day. It is great to see them together.

My husband even read to them. He used to read books to them at bedtime, then life got too hectic.


Emma wrote a report about our new puppy and brought it to school to read to her class. This is huge for her. She is a very quite little girl so this was way out of her comfort zone.

As for getting the school to pick up a reading program, it wasn't a success BUT it wasn't a complete failure either. I did learn that they do have a reading program but they aren't using it. This WILL change next year and it will be because of me. As of right now, it appears that I am going to be the President of the PTA so things will be changing. Oh, and they didn't have a book sale this year. I have already talked to the existing president and voiced my opinion. He told me he will back me next year to make sure the children have the chance to purchase books. I will also make sure that the reading program is for all students and not just students that are struggling. It made be a battle but one the I will win.

This project has made me realize just how much my children love being read to! It warms my heart to know they have a love of reading and books. I love that Emma wants to read to Timmy. I love that we have all found something we can do together and it really doesn't take much time. The best part though, is it is truly quality time together to talk and listen. So thank you Jennifer for having this project and getting people involved.

Update on Finn

Finn is doing GREAT!!

He knows the commands sit and come. He likes to fetch, although sometimes he is fetching our slippers, socks, towels and shoes.

Emma has learned that if she runs Fin chases her and bites her. When she hears Finn following her, she stands like a statue and Finn leaves her alone.

He sleeps in his crate from 9-6 with no accidents!! We love that. Housetraining is exhausting, but with this breed it is. Jake took 6 months to totally get it. We find squiggle marks on the rugs and floors from him. He has no clue he is going. Yet, when I bring him out and tell him "bathroom" he immediately goes. The good thing is we are ripping the rug up when he is trained and putting down hardwood.

Well enough talk...here are some pictures.

Finn alseep on my shoes!!


Finn stretching because apparently he is in a rush to get big.


Now look what his stretching did! His front legs are too long! (just kidding)


Chewing on his rope while relaxing on his bed.


I lasted all of 1 1/2 weeks keeping his off the couch. Here he is sleeping after I picked him up and put him there.


Helping mommy with the laundry! It really tired him out.


Are you looking at me because I am so cute?


Maggie and Finn playing. Her poor ears have taken a beating with this pup.


My sad hound dog. She is quite unhappy about this hat!!!


Finnegan getting ready for his beer.


Don't forget to ready the post below this about Timmy!

All About Timmy!!

How this child warms my heart. I can never find the words to truly express how much this little man brings to my life. He was truly heaven sent. I haven't posted about him (or Emma) in quite awhile.

My little man turned 3 in the beginning of January. We had a CARS extravaganza. Every present he received from David, Emma and myself was from Cars.

Mater is one of our favorites!
This is his Cars light. It is actually a traffic light that flashes slowly.

Emma and Timmy looking at some of the books.

His Mater picture for his room. The kids are looking at the Lightening McQueen picture.

Getting ready to blow his blower.

Waiting patiently for the birthday song to be over.

This is a private celebration on his actual birthday. Timmy doesn't like cake so I got him a special glazed donut and put a candle in it. This is him seeing me coming.

He was very excited!

One of his new puzzles.

Here he is excited about completing his puzzles by himself.

Showing how many muscles he needed to put the puzzles together.

Telling me about putting the puzzle together.


"And that's how I did it!"
These are his puzzles. He has been doing puzzles like this for about 7 months.






On Monday, Timmy made his first trip to the dentist. He did GREAT!! (This was last Monday. I couldn't download the pictures last week.)

Watching Karen the hygenist. He was so excited to go.

He was not afraid at all!! Karen was counting his teeth.

Now she is scraping his 2 bottom front teeth. They get tarter buildup. He was amazing. Didn't flinch at all.

Getting his teeth all polished and clean!

The dentist coming to check his teeth.


Timmy is in "The No Cavity Club!!" He got a nice card and sticker in the mail from Karen. He also left with a goody bag filled with stickers and a "Cars" toothbrush. He picked Sally because he already has Mater.

Introducing Finn!!

Here I am with Finn right after I got him from the Delta Cargo Warehouse. How freakin' cute is he?


Chillin' out at home!


Emma getting to hold her cutie!!

Sleeping with his baby. Can you see those big pink pads on his feet??

Sleepin' by Dad's good foot!


So much to write but I am so exhausted. I just wanted to share his pictures with you.

That's the way my life is going.

Where do I begin...

A couple of weeks ago Emma had an earache which came on out of the blue. We got a drs. appt. about an hour after she first complained and were quickly on meds. On the way home from CVS she fell asleep. It's only a 5 minute drive. This was not a good indication of what was to come. Once home she got her meds and vegged out on the couch with David. About an hour later it happened. I hear David yell, "Oh God!" I ran from the kitchen to find him covered, the couch covered and Emma as white as a ghost. You guessed it, she threw up everywhere.

Here is what she looked like about an hour later.



And a close up...

The poor little thing then started spiking fevers ever day close to 103 when I caught them and they were still on there way up. She didn't fight me on taking naps. She hasn't taken a nap since March 2004, so this was a sure sign the girl was really sick. I am just so glad that it was Presidents Weekend and 2 snow days. If not for that, she would have missed a lot of school. This all lasted 6 days!

Fast forward to last Tuesday when I picked Timmy up from school. They said he took a nap and slept for awhile. Which surprised me because he looked exhausted. When we were driving home, he begged me to get home quick because he wanted to go to sleep. He also complained that his ear was bothering him. I gave him some meds and got him to bed. The next morning we were awaken by Emma crying that her ear hurt. I quickly put numbing drops in her ear and sent her back to bed. Later that morning I got an appt. with the dr. to get both kids in. Everyone checked out ok. So I dropped Emma off at school and brought Timmy home with me.
Here is where it gets interesting. The boy fell asleep on me for 2 1/2 hours and woke with a temp of 102.8!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! For the next day and a half he had a fever on and off, was like a wet rag, pale as a ghost, and had the chills. I called the dr. and told her what was going on. Since she just saw him in the office 2 days ago, she dx him as having the flu. So for the past week, I have been trying to nurse Timmy back to health.

Here is a picture I got of him...




Not that all this wasn't enough...David got hurt Sunday morning. Here is the story...I hope you are ready for this.

He went out to get the paper and while walking to the mailbox he slipped on black ice. Yes, my hubby fell on his butt and laid there yelling for me. Now that we seem like the thing to do if you are hurt, but I was inside the house working in the office. He was laying on the blacktop with a short sleeve shirt on the ice ...he needed to take action. So he flipped to his stomach and crawled to lamp post and pulled himself up. He them hopped up the sidewalk. Yes, up. For those of you that don't know what our sidewalk looks like it is uphill! Once inside, he called to me "Tracy, I need your help. I hurt myself." I found him slumped over the banister in pain. At first I thought it was his back, but quickly found that it was his ankle. I instantly thought of my friend Lara and what she went through with her ankle.

He requested to go to the hospital right away. I called and finally got my brother to come and sit with the kids. Emma found blood and asked what it was from. He had cut his finger and we didn't even no it. Not a big deal though. So off to the hospital we went.

I pulled up the door and ran in to get a wheelchair. He couldn't walk at all. I came out and got him in and then tried to push him. Not an easy task if you have ever seen how big he is. Once in the ER, I left to park the van. When I returned he was in the same spot at the front desk. No one had moved him. So I got him over to the waiting room. Next the triage nurse called up. Thinking she would help...nope!! After being with her for 5 minutes, we were dismissed to the other waiting room. Oh, and I got to push him again!

After waiting an hour to get in..they did x-rays immediately and then we waited in a little cubicle next to a poor woman who was suicidal. This poor woman waited as long as we did. So David is laying on the bed with his sock off, foot, ankle, and lower leg swollen when the dr. walks in and introduces himself. and then say "So you are here for a cough?" WTH??? Was he serious? YES!!!! After clearing that up, he was off to check the x-rays that were waiting. He came back 45 minutes later to tell us that nothing was fractured but there was soft tissue damage. Great! Nothing he could do for us with that except prescribe vicodin. We leave the ER with x-rays (for the second opinion) and a script for vicodin. But here is the kicker...he didn't write David's name on the script so I did. Then at CVS we found out he didn't write the number to dispence. WTF???

So now, I am nursing the hubby back to health also. The second opinion doc told us that he pulled ligaments and physical therapy would help when he is able to bare weight on it.

Oh and here are some pictures...



These were from yesterday. It looks so much worse today!!

If you made it this far...thanks for stopping by!! Send some healing thoughts our way. Mommy really needs some rest!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Midland
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Interesting, since most people I talk (or tawk) to say I sound like I am from NYC.