It has been a busy 2 weeks and I have had a slight ‘break’ from school due to labor day, not sure why but we got a 2 week break…not that I am complaining…now I just have to get back into the ‘school’ mode. I’ll have to resort to bullet points to update you on what has been going on with us.

* Labor Day: My Mom (aka Nana) came down for the weekend to spend with us. I will say it was a bit tough on the emotions as she always comes down for Labor Day and we always go out to the Lake….which is still hard to do without Mark. But going out to the Lake always gives me some sense of peace.

* The kids of course loved visiting with Nana and love to have her here….they even call the guest bedroom “Nana’s Room.” And NO she is not moving in! I am not sure who had more fun playing games at Chuckie Cheese….Nana or the kids!

* I have been volunteering at least once a week in Luke’s Kindergarten class….and I love it! For the most part, I am just a ‘gopher’ but the experience is wonderful. Luke has been doing really good and staying ‘focused’ on what is going on in class instead of me! Overall Luke has been doing really good with school and really enjoys going to school ~~whew!!

* Kate absolutely LOVES going to school…every day she wakes up and asks me if it is a school day…and when it is, she is ready to go at 8AM even though school does not start till 9:30. When I pick her up the first thing she tells me is what they did in gymnastics class.

* I have started arranging for my upcoming ‘observation/field experience’ for school. I spent a few hours at Lynhurst 7/8th Grade Center (where my friend Bridget, who is now off at the FBI Acadmey kicking some major booty, used to work) with some of the Special Ed teachers. It was a great experience and have been invited back! I am very anxious to get some more experience in the classroom!!!

* On Sept 12th, I walked with my dear friends Amy Hale and Amy Litchfield Bultemeier, along with my support group “The Comfort Zone” at Hendricks Regional at the Indianapolis “Out of Darkness” Suicide Prevention walk in memory of Mark. Our team had the 3rd highest amount raised, which is pretty good for our first year (and a big THANKS goes out to everyone who made a donation!). On the drive to downtown Indy by myself, when I was about 3 minutes away, the song “When I Get Where I Am Going” comes on the radio….talk about signs. It turned out to be a beautiful, September morning with the walk and the sunshine doing wonders for my soul.

* Sunday we went Apple picking! Yippie!! Went with our neighbors to Anderson Orchards, my favorite. Of course we had just missed all of the Honey Crisp (our favorite) but the kids are not too picky! We have a bunch of Apples and both the kids have upcoming field to apple orchards….I forsee a lot of cooking in the next couple of weeks!

Gracie, Kate, Sam, and Luke (our neighbors) at Anderson Orchards in Mooresville!

9.9.09

Okay, I will admit deep down I have a slight fascination with numbers, not the idea of ‘numerology’ itself (a little too wacky for me), but numbers themselves. No, I do not like math, but that numbers (dates specifically) have a meaning. Mark and I had numerous conversations about how we both felt strongly about numbers and the meanings behind them. And I know he would have been very excited about today.

Example: I was born on the 27th. 2+7=9. Thus the number, or a multiple of 9, has always been my lucky number. When I played soccer, I wore either 9 or 18. Mark’s lucky number was 9 (It was a significant number with his fraternity).

We got married on the 18th of August. 8.18.01

Then when we started to have a family, the number 4 became very prominent. All of us have 4 letters in our first and last name.

Sometime after the kids were born I realized again the importance of the number 4 to our family. Kate was born on the 14th and Luke was born on the 22nd. 14 is 4 away from 18 and 22 is 4 away from 18….

One day as I was talking to the grief counselor I see about my little fascination with numbers, he pointed out something very poignant to me that I had totally over looked. The first house Mark and I bought was 1024. The second house (the current one) is 513. If you take the first 2 numbers from the first house and the last two numbers from the current house, you have 10.13….the day Mark died. Hits ya in the gut, huh?

Happy Birthday to me.....

So I turned the big ol’ 3-4 last week. I think after your 21st birthday, birthdays just aren’t the same! In my humble opinion, as long as there is cake (or some sort of baked item with frosting) involved, then the day is not so bad! Thanks to some wonderful friends and my beautiful kiddos I made it through the day! Here is what my birthday consisted of:

• Woke up to Luke making me breakfast- 2 eggos in the toaster and having my Mommy pop (aka Dr. Pepper) poured into a coffee mug for me.
  
• When Kate finally woke up they both sang “Happy Birthday” to me
  
• At school, Luke ran into the door without looking back…then 10 seconds later he ran back out the door to give me a hug and a kiss…then he said “Happy Birthday Mommy” awwwwwwwww…….
  
• I had Jimmy John's for lunch........now that is about enough to make my birthday the bomb alone!!
  
• That afternoon, while the kids were playing with the other neighbor kids, Luke told them it was my birthday, so then all the neighbor kids started to sing me “Happy Birthday” awwwwwwwww…..
  
• That night, met up with my “Purdue” friends (Amy, Amy, and Katie) and their kiddos at Chick-Fil-a to celebrate my birthday….and there was Marsh cake involved!! I don't think the Chick-Fil-a in Plainfield will ever be the same!!
  
• The next day, I met some friends from my old work at El Rodeo (my favorite place to eat). They got me a cake from Marsh too!!! YUMMMMMYYY!!!
  
• That weekend we went out to the Triangle house and the kids insisted we have a “Jammie Party” for my birthday….how could I refuse that?!?!