Yellowstone, here we come!

Josh, Zoey & I will be heading out to Yellowstone National Park bright and early tomorrow morning ... as in we have a 6:30 am flight.  We've been packed up since last weekend, and our suitcases are jam-packed.  We've been told that the weather really fluctuates this time of year and that we should layer.  Hopefully we have what we need, but we'll find out tomorrow! 

We're all really excited to see all of the wildlife and the geysers (Zoey especially wants to see some geysers).  Hopefully we'll have some great photos to share when we get back.

She did it!

Riley finally did pee-pee and poopy on the potty this weekend ... while sitting and reading a book.  She was so dang proud of herself (as was I!), it was so stink' cute.  Hopefully this is the start of a whole new world for us.  Aaahhh, to finally be free of diapers/pull-ups would be such a wonderful thing; and a major cost saver too!

Swim Meet

Zoey swam 3 heats in her swim meet last night, and she improved her backstroke by 9 seconds.  She seems to be getting the hang of this whole swim thing.  Josh & I were on ribbon writing duty, which allowed us (after Zoey was finished with her heats) to sit in the air conditioned clubhouse with good friends while sticking stickers on the backs of ribbons.  Zoey earned herself 2 second place ribbons and 1 third place ribbon last night.  Go Zoey!

What you can almost make out in the first photo is that the kids get their heat numbers and lane number written on their arms at the Thursday practices.  Riley had her own version written on her arm, which included hears and butterflies.  She was super excited to show me her arm when I got there.  Maybe we'll have a second swimmer in a few years.

First Swim Meet

Zoey had her first swim meet last Thursday at Martin's Landing subdivision.  She was in the first heat, and I was coming from work and had to park like 15 miles from the pool.  So, I ran ... in my wedges ... not my best decision ever, as I ended up taking a spill.  I scraped up my hands, banged my knee and landed right on my right foot.  It was swollen up after about an hour.  I was so close to the pool, I could hear them swimming and all the cheering.  Luckily Josh was able to take these videos on his phone so I could see what happened:

Zoey's group took first place in all the heats that she was in (Go Torpedoes!) and she received her 3 blue ribbons on Friday and she was so excited and we were so proud of her.  Although she practices with the 7-8 year olds, Zoey has to swim with the 6-year olds.  At first she was upset about this since most of her friends are in the 7-8 group, but she's come to terms with it.  It's to her advantage since this is her first time doing swim team.  We've got another swim meet tomorrow; this one at home.  Hopefully its another good event.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

One of the greatest thing about being a mom to two girls is watching them enjoy one another.  Riley's favorite thing to do is anything that Zoey is doing at that moment.  This is a clip of the girls cheering for the soccer game

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a very lovely Mother's Day weekend.  Despite the rainy weather, we went to one of my favorite festivals in historic downtown Duluth - the Barefoot in the Park Festival.  We got to enjoy the live music, and the kids tent which was full of activities such as the moon sand table

I think the favorite part was watching the Gwinnett Ballet Company perform.  Zoey sat engrossed up front and center, and Riley had a blast doing her own dance moves

Sunday morning Dawn & I went to massages & facials at Spa Sydell.  What a lovely, wonderful weekend for this mom to enjoy.

Soccer

Zoey had a great soccer this season playing on her team "the Kicks"

The were undefeated as a team and Zoey had a blast playing with all these girls.  Coach Bridgette honored Zoey with the Most Energetic award at the end of the year party.  Unfortunately there were so many games and practices that were rained out this spring season, but overall it was a good experience.

Busy Weekend

One of these days I'll have a smart phone and be able to post pictures in a prompt fashion (Josh this is directed to you), but in the mean time words will have to suffice.

Josh is traveling, but my dad is visiting (got to love having Grandpa around!).  Saturday was a very busy day, starting with a soccer game where Zoey got an assist on a goal and her team won (they are currently undefeated).  Next we were off to see The Little Mermaid performed by the CYT Theater for the Girl Scouts.  It was a great performance for a local theater and the kids had a great time.  I was super impressed with how well Riley did; I was fully expecting to get up several times with her but she was mesmerized and kept asking for "more boat".  We capped off the evening with a pizza dinner and a movie night watching Rise of the Guardians.

Sunday was a rainy day and Zoey didn't have the best day, but we ended it well and that's what matters in the end.

Mommy-Daughter Date

By this Sunday, Zoey had earned enough marbles through good behavior at school, home and helping out overall that she & I were able to go on a mommy-daughter date.  The plan was to go see The Croods at Studio Movie Grill, and we opted to leave a little early (in order to leave Josh in peace to watch the Masters while Riley napped).  We headed off to Kohl's for a little shopping; Zoey was behaving wonderfully so I let her wander a bit from me.  I guess I should have told her notto spray any perfume on herself.  Well, Zoey ended up with a whole new outfit becasue there was just no way I could sit next to her for an entire movie with out ending up with a massive headache ... thank goodness for sales at Kohl's!  We got to the movie on time and were able to order some dinner which was a new experience for Zoey.  The movie was super cute and we just had a wonderful time together.  I am so glad for the helpful marbles!

Katie Beckett Medicaid

We've been dealing with trying to renew Riley's Katie Beckett/Deeming Waiver medicaid since August 2012 and it has been nothing but headaches.  We got all the paperwork together, got the doctors to sign off and sent it all it, only to get an initial denial.  I've bee appealing, and faxing in all sort of papers and supplements.  Then last week I got a packet in the mail and it looked like they wanted it all sent it again.  Okay, frustrating  but I did it; I copied everything and mailed it in (with 12 dang stamps on it!) only yesterday for the April 15th deadline that they gave us.  Low and behold what comes in the mail today?  Our final denial.  How does that makes sense, they didn't even get the additional papers that they requested yet.  Ugh!  We will be requesting the hearing to appeal.  Keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck - we need it.