more mouth issues

 So this happened again. I had another spot show up in my mouth.  I put it off a few weeks and then went to get it biopsied.  At least this time they could just numb it and not have to put me to sleep. But the nitrous oxide they gave me made me sick. I had to run into Walmart for a few things right after and had to keep that gauze in my mouth for about an hour to help with the bleeding. Nothing puts you up towards the front of a check out line than being a little out of it with gauze hanging out of your mouth! My right side of my face went numb and burned for a few weeks but was assured that was normal and its slowly getting better.  It came back all clear and they still aren't sure why I keep getting these spots in my mouth. At least I was only on a liquid diet for 4 days instead of months this time.

Valentines

Joel went back and forth on giving out valentines this year. It was optional but I knew most of the class would do it. We went to the store to see if there were any he would want to give out. He choose mini packs of m&ms.  He started laughing really hard when he was writing out names.  On one he put to Kevin from Kevin to confuse Kevin.  

I'm not sure if he ever told Kevin it was him.  He said when they were passing them out his teacher let them look at them and eat some of the candy.  Kevin had the m&ms on his desk and Joel walked by eating his m&ms and said "hey thanks for the m&ms," and then walked away

A walk in the woods

 

Daddy Daughter Dance

 This past weekend Norah's school held its first Daddy Daughter Dance. Norah was so excited.  And it was a good motivator to get her to school because each day I would tell her she needed to make sure she was there to get her tickets.

 Brent and Norah went to McDonalds before the dance with another dad and his daughter.  The girls picked McDonalds.  We told the dads we tried to steer them elsewhere but to them thats a fancy dinner.

 Norah has been doing so well in school. I've stopped going every day.  I'm currently going twice a week but hoping to just go once a week.  I have to have an excuse and a reason not to go but she is starting to relax at school and feel safe. It helps when we are walking out each day for teachers like the PE teacher or librarian go make a point to come see Norah and give her a hug and tell her what they are going to do the next day. And she really does have the sweetest kids in her class. We've gone down to once a month counseling - which Norah is very upset about. She wants to see Miss Kelly each week. So the timing of this dance was perfect for her.  Norah even stayed after school that day without me to help set up everything for the dance.  

She had so much fun!

Puppies

 A few weeks ago we watched Uncle Jeff's puppy for the weekend.  She is the sweetest dog and actually makes me want to have a dog.  Too bad Jeff wont give her up!  But she's fun to borrow for a while.

Then Mary and Robbie came one weekend to visit and to pick up their new puppy.

 They got here in time to watch Colins basketball game which meant a lot to him. He knows Uncle Robbie likes to sleep in so the fact he woke up early to drive here in time meant a lot.

Then we went to a new farmhouse brewery that just opened and apparently Robbie knows the owner.

 They still had to kill time before they could pick up the puppy so we went down to the beach for dinner and to walk along the beach.

 We took Lenny home with use while they went to get Kenzie.  

 There are a lot of puppy pictures but he was just so cute.

 This picture makes me laugh.  I'm pretty sure Lenny was hoping we were the ones getting the puppy and not Mary and Robbie.  He sighed when Mary got into the car with them to go home.

It seemed like a month of dogs so its no surprise when Joel presented me with this chart:

In case you can't see the chart measures our happiness level with a dog.  Currently we are at a 4% because we have no dog. But once we get a dog we will be at 80% - I think I'm going to wait until the happiness level is at 100% before we go ahead and get a dog.  

We will have Addie here again this week so that'll be fun and the kids have assured me they will be the ones taking care of her. We will see how that goes. 

Weekend away

At the end of January some friends and I got away for a girls weekend. I met Heather when we were both pregnant at Rod and Debbie's house for a going away party for James and Angela.  Heather had Becca first. Joel waited another week and half before he made his appearance. I still joke that Joel should've been born first!  And then Holly showed up at our community group one night and I asked her if she knew my friend Heather (they taught at the same school and carpooled for years together) Holly told me once she knew we would be good friends if I was friends with Heather.  

 The past two years we've gotten away for a night and I hope this tradition continues.  We didn't go far - just to Williamsburg and Sarah met us for the day.  We all have birthdays in February within the same week so we call this our birthday weekend.  Oh but don't worry - we went out for dinner last week to celebrate our actual birthdays! ha! We meet a lot at Plaza for dinner. Brent is always amazed when one of us texts to see if we are free that week for dinner that we don't even say where we are going.  Its just assumed.

Horses

Norah LOVES horses lately.  We are all subjected to watch over and over and over any horse show on Netflix.  So she was so excited to be invited to a birthday party at a barn where they got to feed and ride horses.

The best morning ever for her!