Weekend Getaway!

 In January my assistant principal (now principal) and I had discussed the possibility of going to see the Florida Gators play the Tennessee Volunteers in college football in the fall.  We have had a friendly rivalry for years and felt it would be fun to cheer on our teams as they played each other in the Tennessee stadium.  We booked our condo for the weekend and waited for tickets to go on sale for this game.  Covid happened and everything shut down for the 2020 year/season.  About a month ago there was talk of college football returning and we were optimistic we would still get to see our teams play, even if we were going to have to watch the game on television while near the stadium!  The SEC decided to change the schedule to only conference games which meant our teams would be playing this past Saturday, but not each other like originally planned.  Ironically, they will play in the beginning of December?!  We decided to take advantage of the weekend away anyways and watch two football games instead of one while out of town! Thanks to Grammy and Grandpa, Zack and I were able to enjoy a weekend away with Angie and Keith!  Zack and I got to eat breakfast by ourselves one morning and enjoyed the four hour drive there and back to catch up on all the things that are hard to have a conversation about when two cute boys interrupt every other sentence! haha  I absolutely love the mountains... they are my happy place so this weekend away was just what I needed to take a brief timeout from all the responsibilities of home and work!

We were able to explore Cades Cove.... it was a little rainy but we were still able to see some of the local wildlife and beautiful terrain. 

We made a stop at the Apple Barn Restaurant.  This was a family favorite growing up... which means any time I'm close to this restaurant we must stop!! The smells and scenery always take me back to my childhood and all of the fun trips we had in our camper!  We even saw a bald eagle while we were there!

I had to document some of the yummy food and drinks we had while away.... these uninterrupted meals were pretty nice! ;) 

We checked out the University of Tennessee stadium.  Even though the Volunteers weren't playing at home as originally planned, it was nice to see the college campus.  I had to wear my Florida jersey even if I did stick out like a sore thumb! ;)

Seeing these mountain views and going through the tunnels as we weaved up and through the mountains will always be something I look forward to on a drive west!

The boys were in good hands... enjoying some spoiling and quality time with my mom and dad!  Maddox did throw up all over our bathroom (including the bath mat and shower curtain) the last night we were gone so I think Grammy was ready for us to return and have an uninterrupted night of sleep!  I will have to say September 2020 has not been Maddox's month! We are already counting down to his birthday month... one more day to go!

We had pajama day at school today!  I will have to admit, the remote learning experience is incredibly challenging to ensure Zander gets all of his work done and I am able to devote enough time and attention to my daily tasks which include schoolwide support and preparations during this pandemic.  The friendships that are developing between the teacher kids and the support network we have among the adults in the building are helping make it more manageable!  We keep saying we are all in this together!

I continue to be impressed with what Zander and I are doing right now!  We are working and learning together in one room all day long.  I pray he looks back on this experience and only remembers the extra time he had with mommy rather than all the times I had to remind him to get his work done! ;) 

September Birthday Fun!

After a very tough week with Maddox's teeth extraction, I decided to take the boys (with Grammy's help) to the science center on Saturday prior to our membership expiring for the year.  Daddy stayed home to get the yard/vegetable boxes/planters looking good for fall.  I loved seeing our smiley Maddox back and even got his first official genuine smile captured on camera since losing his two front teeth.  I am happy to report that we are seeing progress with Maddox's swallowing, eating and talking!  He has somehow found that pesky thumb again... a habit I thought he had broken since he wasn't able to suck his thumb all week last week.  I continue to be very thankful for his health considering the ER visit and teeth extraction back to back weeks!

We took a ride on the carousel too!

We got Maddox's school picture!  This was taken on the Thursday prior to his teeth extraction so it is the last school picture with all of his baby teeth in tact.  

Zander continues to love being at school with his friends even if we are continuing with remote learning.  He will try to finish his work before lunch and join his friends for art projects, pretend play or hide and seek after everyone completes their daily tasks.  Here they are working on an art project in my room.

I was able to pick up Emmy two days this week.... I love spending time with my niece and nephew each week! They are getting so big!

We were able to celebrate Great Grandma's 89th birthday and Grandpa's 71st birthday this week.  Zack made steaks and chicken.  We had French fries, salad and rolls to go with it!  We also had multiple dessert options!  This was the first time Great Grandma has left her apartment since March!  We were thankful to get hugs and have the grandkids and great grandkids together!

Grammy has arranged for one of Zander's friends from school to come hang out on Fridays while mommy has all day meetings.  They take turns going to Grammy's house and to his friend's house.  Zander loves Fridays with Grammy, Grandpa, Eli and Lana!

Please say a prayer for our beagle, Burke.  He will have surgery next week to remove a round cell tumor.  This tumor is in the same location as the malignant tumor that was removed three years ago.  We are praying for a simple surgery and speedy recovery for our 10 year old pup!  He is rocking a police badge in this picture! haha

All I Want for Christmas.....

 is my two front teeth!  Maddox had his two front teeth extracted on Monday.  Before I get to that, here are some pictures from our past week....

The boys wanted to see if they could make a boat that would hold their buttons.... daddy helped them with aluminum foil and they had at least 500 buttons (that is where we stopped counting) in their boat!

Zander continues to enjoy coming to school with me.  I will admit it is an extremely hard balance though.  Fortunately, he is loved on by the whole staff at our school...... making him smile and encouraging him to get his work done each day.  Here he is with his teacher from 1st grade, Mrs. Pulliam!

Angie's mother in law passed away last week.  Our former office staff is always there for the good, bad and ugly.  Angie wanted to snap a picture and jokingly said "we put the fun in funeral".... definitely blessed by my friendship with these ladies.  Also, I'm rocking a mask full time right now..... I will get to have my grandma over to our house for her birthday next week.... the first time seeing her outside of Arbor Ridge since March.  I am not taking any chances I could pass any germs over to her!

Maddox had picture day on Thursday.  I wanted to capture some of his smiles with his two front teeth still in place.  I will have to admit, I was sad to see the front teeth go but it has been an even harder recovery process for Maddox than I anticipated.  

Taking a picture before church on Sunday!

Our Monday morning before the teeth extraction.... so happy and full of energy!  I tried to take a lot of pictures, knowing this will be last time I could document his smile with his baby teeth!

Zack took Maddox to the procedure on Monday morning.  Zack said he did great with the laughing gas, the three needles in his mouth to numb the area and even with the teeth pulling.  You can tell from the pictures of the teeth that they were still very much rooted in his mouth.  We were told by the dentist he would be back to normal by Tuesday (eating normally and energy level as usual).  That has not happened for us.  On Monday afternoon, Maddox refused to eat or drink anything.  Maddox was also very sad about his teeth being gone and kept asking when the new ones would come in.  Monday night he woke up throwing up and even covered me and our bed with vomit.  We were up most of the night, making the decision pretty easy to work from home on Tuesday.  Zack stayed for the morning to help with the kids while I had some online meetings scheduled.  He snapped the picture below of Maddox sleeping on the floor after our busy night.  Finally by Tuesday afternoon, Maddox started to eat ice cream and soup.  He still had a hard time swallowing and talking.  Tuesday night was pretty uneventful and I thought we were going to be back to normal by Wednesday.  On Wednesday, he started eating a little more (mainly soft foods).  He started to put his mouth closer together and is trying to figure out swallowing again.   I took both boys with me to school and quickly realized this was not going to work for the day.  Grammy to the rescue! She picked up Maddox around 9:30 and he spent the rest of the day relaxing with her.  I am hopeful that Maddox will be returning to school today.  Zander has been a champ, knocking out his school work and going to baseball practice in the evenings.  I am truly exhausted and equally hopeful that we are on the mend as a family!  It has been an eventful couple weeks between Maddox's ER visit and teeth extraction, starting baseball and still juggling the demands of work and school through remote learning.   Keep those prayers coming!

I had to document his first smile since having his teeth pulled....... I guess all Maddox really wants for Christmas is his two front teeth ;)

M's First Trip to the ER!

 We wondered when our first trip to the ER would be with our rough and tumble boys, and it happened this past weekend.  We have been to the ER only once before and that is when Zander was 8 months old and had RSV.  So this marks our first (and hopefully our only) trip to the ER due to an injury.  We met up with our best friends, the Whites, for a Saturday hike and ended the day at the local ER due to a flying stick that landed right on Maddox's eye and nose.  It was a total accident that the whole thing happened but we are hopeful we can also learn from this experience and be more mindful when we are hitting sticks against trees, etc. in the woods.  I was proud that all the kids navigated the waterfalls and hills successfully and this run in with a tree limb happened moments before we were planning to leave (as in I was collecting all the lunch stuff to put back in the car).  Zack quickly assessed the situation and knew we needed to get medical assistance so the Whites took Zander home with them while we headed to the local ER (since we were about an hour from home).  They confirmed what we could tell with our naked eye..... Maddox had debris in his eye and several scrapes across his cornea.  They flushed out the debris (as much as possible) and patched his eye with instructions to see an eye doctor as soon as possible.  With it being a three day weekend, we were worried we would have to wait until Tuesday to see a specialist.  Zack texted his eye doctor and she responded Saturday evening, saying she could see us first thing Sunday morning.  After looking at his eye, she confirmed that there was a large scratch across the top of his cornea (just above his retina).  If it had scratched any lower, he could have had permanent vision loss.  She was able to buff out some more of the debris that was stuck.  Maddox was given a contact lens "bandaid" and some higher dose eye drops and we will be following up on Thursday to hopefully hear our treatment plan is working with little more required on his eye.  Prayers are appreciated that his eye is healing properly and that his check up on Thursday confirms he is on his way to years of great vision!  Here are some pictures from our week.... we had a great time hiking and going to the science center, making use of our three day weekend!

A motto I'm trying to live by (above)...... and more pictures from working at school with having a 2nd grader for remote learning... we had Mr. Ben come read with some of the 2nd graders that are there with their parents at school.  Zander is trying to use blue light glasses and Chocolate (Zander's beagle) rocked a mask one day!

Our lazy pup tries to keep me company during an early morning workout before school!  Please pray for him as Zack is taking him on Thursday to get a place looked at.  Burke had a cancerous tumor removed a couple years ago so the vet wants us to bring him in any time there is a mass that grows pretty quickly.

We love having family dinners at our house with the Bakewells and Kennedys! This week was spaghetti, garlic bread and salad!  Eli helped cook! ;) 

Great memories of our Saturday morning hike!

Not so great memories of our trip to the ER!

Grammy took the oldest and youngest for field trip Friday to the science center a couple weeks ago!  Zander loved showing us around and taking pictures like Grammy let him do!

Our Labor Day Monday activity... the science center and new carousel! 

Maddox is so incredibly tough!  He has stayed his optimistic, happy self in spite of the pain.  We are so impressed with our big boy!! I will never forget how he fell into my arms as I carried him into the ER, screaming in pain and not able to open his eye.  I am so thankful to see these pictures of him a day or two afterwards!

Maddox had a little bit of trouble following directions at school last week.  He wrote an apology card based on his behavior.  We are praying for a good week for the adults and children!