Mondays

I am thankful Corey has a job and I am thankful I have a job as well. For the past three years I have worked Monday evenings and Saturday mornings because Corey would generally be home with Rhianna at those times. A new job for Corey has brought a new schedule and Mondays have now proven to be challenge for us. When Corey first started, he was training to be the Kitchen manager and the evenings wouldn't be an issue because KM hours start at 8AM. Corey's new position is Service manager and the hours very greatly. It will be rare for Corey to be home on Monday evenings. My schedule is set and I would have to find a different job if I want Monday evenings off. I am having a difficult time with having a caregiver pick Rhianna up from school, work on homework, feed her dinner, and putting her to bed on a school night. Corey and I drop Rhianna off at school Monday morning and then we don't see her until Tuesday morning. I want to believe her caregiver is taking care of her and giving her the attention she needs but I just feel it should be coming from one of her parents on a school night. I guess if it were only once a month, I would be alright but it is every week. I feel as though we are starting off the week with a lack of structure for her. When Corey was home with her on Monday evenings, I never gave it a second thought. Now I find myself looking at the clock at work and wondering if she has finished her homework, or has eaten, or read a bedtime story, or did she go to sleep wishing her mommy was home. I love my job but I feel as though I am putting my job before my family. Corey and I thought we would wait and see the schedule for April in hopes it will bring improvements over this past March schedule. If no improvements are seen, we only have May to get through and then we have summer! Summer means we will get to all be together as a family all morning until afternoon! How cool does that sound!

Growing Pains

Rhianna has always had pain associated with growing. She will be sleeping and we hear her moaning and crying in her sleep. She will wake up and cry out because her legs hurt. This only seems to happen when she has a growth spurt. We will have this carry on for a few weeks and sure enough at the end of it all we need to move up to the next size in her pants. We have tried heat, cold, ibuprofen, and massaging but nothing gives her relief. Have you experienced this at all? Have you found anything to work for your little person? I recall my oldest niece having the same issue growing up as well and I seem to recall my sister could not help her daughter's knee pain go away either. One more reason I need to find a way to keep my little person from growing up!
Last night was a hard night for her. I scooped her up and carried her to bed with me since Corey was working. It felt wonderful to cradle her in my arms again but I sternly explained that sleeping in our bed was not going to happen every time her legs hurt. She quit moaning and crying and slipped right into sleep. I would like to find something to help her but sleeping in our bed is not going to be it!

a few of our favorite things

These items here have been our family's favorites for the past two weeks. Yup two weeks now with this miserable stuff in our heads and chests. I am starting my second week now and I am ready to be done. Corey brought it home first two weeks ago and then I started last week and today Rhianna has been complaining of a soar throat which starts it all. I am tired of all the sickness and would really enjoy being healthy again. Our family seems to have been hit hard with illnesses from this past fall until present. So hard it makes me want to start on vitamins or some other form of prevention.

the missing shoe

Several months ago, Rhianna learned she had many compartments in her backpack. She decided she would use them for her various treasures. One November day, she had picked a new compartment to hold her shoes. She could fit most of the shoe into the mesh pocket and "behold" there was a mesh pocket for each shoe.

Rhianna bounced from the school door and ran down the hill to the parking lot for me to pick her up. I observed a shoe barely hanging in the pocket of her backpack and explained to her as she climbed into the car that her shoes need to go into the big pocket so there would be no chance of losing them. She agreed and went about our ride. She was very quiet and when I looked back I saw giant tears streaming down her face. She hesitantly told me that the other shoe must have fallen out because it was gone. I tried to tell her we would search for the missing shoe. Someone will find the shoe. We searched her classroom, her teacher searched the other 1st grade classrooms, and took numerous trips to the lost and found box. No shoe. It has been several months now with out that shoe and I really have given up hope. I made my usual stop to lost and found today while working in her class and I found our beloved shoe. I was happy! Thrilled even though I thought in the back of my mind Corey had thrown the other shoe out thinking it wouldn't be found. As soon we arrived home, I ran upstairs to Rhianna's closet to search for the other shoe. YES! There in the closet and all alone was the mate to the missing shoe. A pair again! It's the little things in life.

Gramma's 90th Birthday

Today is Gramma Pleune's 90th birthday! The angels are celebrating with her in heaven as we celebrate her life spent with us. She left her home here on earth a week after her 88th birthday. I sure miss my little lady!

I grew up with Gramma living with us in our home. She went everywhere with us and did everything we did. She even went camping with us. Fun times!

She was always willing to try anything new. Corey and I taught her how to shoot pool just two months before she passed away.

Miss you Gramma! Happy 90th Birthday!

Griffins Game

I was given tickets to last night's GR Griffins game. The tickets were given to Doctor by one of our labs and he gave the tickets to a couple of us in the office who wanted to go to the game. Corey was unable to go and I just wasn't sure I wanted to take Rhianna by myself, but she insisted so we went. The pre-game gathering and concessions were to start at 6pm however, I didn't leave work until 5:30pm and still had to pick Rhianna up from childcare. She was wired and a bit out of control and I was exhausted from my long of work. I thought for a moment of calling it all off. We made it down town to find all four parking lots around the arena full. I drove to Market and Cherry where a man flagged me down to pay $5 to park in his garage. We walked quickly to the arena and went in through a suite entrance. I was so turned around. I've been to VanAndel arena maybe four times in the past fifteen years. We missed the pre-game activities along with the concessions and quickly located our awesome seats. The game was about to begin. They open with a very cool song and everyone waves their cell phones to create the mood lighting in the dark arena. Rhianna waved her MP3 player and thought it was very cool. She sat in her seat the whole night. I was so proud of her. She wanted to know all about the hockey game and got involved. She was the one who told me the Griffins were playing against the Moose! She even chose to remain in her seat for half time rather than checking out what the bathrooms were like! I pulled my phone out at one point to take a picture of us but was distracted with the need to cheer and clap with both of my hands. I have no pictures from our awesome time together. At 8:15pm I leaned over to tell her we needed to leave and sadly she stood up to go. Again I was so turned around. She grabbed my hand and pulled me in the direction we needed to go. She led me to a set of doors I was sure we hadn't come in and she pointed to a sign and said, "It says suity entrance, I know!" We continued to walk hand in hand, with Rhianna leading the way to our car. Again, I was so proud of my girl and yet a little saddened how quickly she is growing up. We made it home safe and hit our beds right away for 5am would come very soon.

a visit to Rhianna's Spa

This past weekend, I had the privilege of having a pedicure at Rhianna's spa. She first massaged my feet and then painted my toe nails. What a treat! The color is OPI I'm Not Really A Waitress if you are interested. I think she did a beautiful job!