Things have been busy since Mother's Day. (btw, Sydney threw up, Brogan wet the bed all the way through the sheets and many other crazies on Mother's Day, but it was still fun) The following weekend Cortney had a conference in Sarasota so the kids and I went along and stayed at a nice place on Lido Beach. It was lots of fun swimming, going to the beach and visiting St.Armands Circle for ice cream.

The next two weeks are a complete blur. Through my blog, I met a beautiful lady who had been diagnosed with an anuerysm. Our friendship bloomed instantly and we talked several times on the telephone for hours at a time. On Thursday night, May 21 we were talking on the phone and she passed on to our Heavenly Father. I have struggled to find an answer for my placement in her life as well as an answer for why she was taken from me. Please prayer warriors, pray for her dear family which consists of a beautiful husband and 8 children along with grandchildren whom she loved dearly. Also, remember me in your prayers as I continue to struggle with God on his lesson in this matter.

The following week was the last week of pre-school for Sydney. I can not believe that my baby girl is heading off to kindergarten next year. Time is precious! Then, some great friends invited us to a time share in Orlando to "get away" for a few days. The kids enjoyed swimming, mini golf, Old Town amusement and eating lots of junk food. We returned in time for a graduation party for the best babysitter ever, Melissa Colson. We all look forward to seeing what God has in store for this exceptional young lady.

Last week was Spencer's last week of first grade. The last three days of school were filled with parties, awards ceremonies and fun. He is such a big kid now! I am so excited to have the summer with the kids. A much better summer than last year!! We are going to stay busy busy busy.

On Sunday, Cortney and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary. I am so totally and incredibly blessed by this awesome man. I love him more than I could ever express! Of course, we toasted to many more 12's to come!

I will return to the doctor in Gainesville on Thursday, June 11. I will mark my one year "annie"versary June 10. That will be a big day for me. I will have a CT Scan and see my neurosurgeon to confirm that all is well. Wow! I can hardly believe that a year has passed and you guys are still out there reading my blog and praying for my family. It means more than could ever be said.WE LOVE YOU ALL!!

It is really warm in Florida and extremely dry! If the rain doesn't come soon, we will qualify as a desert. There have been brush fires in several different spots around Vero the last couple of weeks. Today we stayed cool and wet in the neighbors swimming pool. It was a beautiful, but dry, day.

If you return to the beginning of my blog posts, this journey you've been keeping up with began one year ago on May 7, 2008! It was Friday night, 7:30pm, mother's day weekend that my doctor called to inform me they found an aneurysm on my CT scan. I can hardly believe all that has transpired since that call. I am so thankful to my God, my family and my dear friends for the love and support to see me through. I pray that each of you has learned from my experience and you are enjoying every day as much as me. As I type this blog, Spencer and Cortney are in the kitchen baking a mother's day cake. The excitement and craziness in the house is so fun. Thank you God for great days!!!!!!!

Mother's, have a fun and crazy day with your kids! LET LOOSE!

The month of April was a whirlwind of activity and it got away from me without one post. Sorry. We had spring break, Easter, spring carnivals, a visit from my dad, etc. etc. So, here we are in May and it is just as busy. On Thursday, May 7, my grandmother will be celebrating her 93rd birthday. My aunt is surprising her with a visit from New Hampshire and we have a small dinner celebration planned. This week is also teacher appreciation week so the kids have special activities planned each day of the week for their teachers.

The weather is warming in south Florida and I finally had to break down and turn on the ac. I hold off as long as possible because I would be happy to open all doors and windows, crank the ceiling fans on high and be hot. Not so with Cortney. They keep his office so cold at work that he comes home and 78 feels like 100. We went to the beach and swimming over the weekend so we are gearing up for summer fun. I am looking forward to having a great summer with the kids. I am going to be OUT OF BED!! Yea.

Lucie is doing very well except she is a piddler! I have never had this problem with a puppy and not sure how to correct the problem. When she meets new people or gets excited, watch out! Anyway, I am taking her to obdience classes and they begin on Thursday night. I will miss the first meeting but have a make-up class and then 5 more weeks of class. Hopefully we will both learn alot.

Cortney was sooo excited that he had grant money to pay for his first trip out of the country as a University of Florida professor. The passport was in, rooms booked, plane tickets confirmed all for the trip..........to Veracruz, MEXICO May 24-30!!Needless to say, the trip has been postponed. They have rescheduled for September. We shall see.

Happy Spring!!

I have been amazed how many friends have called, e-mailed or dropped by after reading the blog about Lucie, our new puppy. It is so incredible that you all continue to keep up with my progress and our family! I am happy that you enjoy reading the blog and I hope to keep you more updated. Here goes...

Cortney traveled to Gainesville on Tuesday to receive an award for Superior Accomplishmets. He was nominated by the Director of the research center where he works. On Wednesday, the Director of the School of Forest Resources and Conservation visited Ft.Pierce from Gainesville for Cortney's annual review. He is so busy and continues to put his all into his aquaculture endeavors. The same day, Sydney had Focus Day at Maitland Farm, her preschool. Brogan and I attended and had a fun time catching lady bugs, feeding the farm animals, riding trikes, making crafts, looking at the gardens, etc. After focus day the three of us visited Spencer's class to teach a Math Superstars lesson. It was a busy and fun filled day. Upon arriving home in the afternoon we were greated by a massive swarm of bees that were trying to take up residence in our walls. YIKES!!! Thankfully, we have a great entomologist friend who battled the bees and scared (or killed) them away!! Today was school for all three kids in the morning and a grocery trip for me, then kid pick up, lunch and Sydney's gymnastics. Tomorrow TGIF!!!! Sydney, Brogan and I plan to visit Addy, Syd's best friend, mid morning and go swimming. Spencer will have baseball practice at 7pm and then Saturday is clean-up day at his school. Yes, in between it all we are walking Lucie and giving her LOTs of puppy playtime. The kids continue to be over the top about her. I hope to get pictures of Lucie posted soon. We are having slight computer problems with pictures but hope to have it worked out in the near future.

Everyone enjoy the weekend!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It has been a long time since the last post. That is because I am doing so well that I suddenly never stop, plus our computer has been on the blink for some time. Since we last spoke Cortney and I had the privilege of visiting Seattle. He had an aquaculture conference and it just so happened that my aunt was going to be visiting from New Hampshire and volunteered to keep the kids for us. Awesome! We had a wonderful time and it was a much needed trip away from the kids, husband/wife time. Seattle is a beautiful and very fun city and I look forward to visiting again. The week after we arrived home, my brother, sister-in-law and 6 month old nephew Kolby came to visit. They stayed for a week and we had a really good time.

The kids are busy as usual. Spencer's baseball season began tonight with the first practice. Sydney is still in gymnastics and Brogan loves his TOT class and got to play with green shaving cream today. He was a mess when I arrived to pick him up.

Last, but not least! It seems just when I am getting control of my brain again, I lose it. We adopted a new puppy last week. Lucie was adopted from the humane society and is basically a mutt. They labeled her a "boxer mix." She is suppose to be 11 months old but I am not sure she is that old. I think her puppy ways are much more fun and funny to the kids than me. Imagine that!!! It has been crazy around here for a week but I think she is going to be a great dog. We are going to be having a basic obedience class on Thursday and go from there. The kids love her so much. Our previous dog, Beamish, was 15 years old and we had to have him put to sleep 2/14/08. The kids longed for a new dog since that day. So, here we go again.

I hope everyone out in cyper space is doing great. Hope to hear from you soon. All my love!!

Things are going great in Florida except it is a little chilly. We have experienced a very cool winter this year. It is fun to have some brisk days and nights though. I made chili for dinner last night and we visited the neighbors because they have a wood burning fireplace. They had one of the 3-4 fires they have annually! It was fun to sit in front of the fire and listen to the crackles. Today is very windy and in the 50's. That's very cold for south Florida.

Cortney is still very busy at work. He is closing in on the end of his 4th year at UF and will be approaching the tenure process soon. He has 9 employees and many research projects going full swing. We never know if he will be home a 3pm or 11pm. He continues to LOVE his work so that is what matters. Thankfully he has a job to get up for each morning! Spencer is enjoying his new school and is staying busy in the first grade. He is reading chapter books and is so excited that he can now read a chapter a night. Sydney loves preschool and gymnastics. She is an angel. Brogan is wide open and definitely the family comedian.

Thoughts to leave you with: "don't be afraid of dying, be afraid of never living" Selma Hayek on the Today show.

We are just returning from a trip to Nebraska to visit Cortney's family. His parents, sister and family, and brother and family live in Lincoln. We arrived on Friday night to the welcome sight of a couple of inches of snow on the ground and much warmer temps than they had been experiencing. We stopped to eat on the way from the airport and I didn't think I would get the kids into the restaurant because they just wanted to touch and step in the snow. Spencer was making snow angels in the front yard at 11pm!!They were so excited as they do not remember the snows during our short time in Illinois. The weekend was filled with sledding, building snowmen, ice skating, Big Red basketball, playing with the cousins, musuems and many other great family activities. We had such a fabulous time. I am happy to say that I held up fantastically! My fatique is incredibly better. We returned to Florida and really cold temps on Weds. night. Thankfully it is warming up here today and it's in the
70's. We all have the sniffles but should start recovering once it begins to heat up this weekend. I will try and post some pictures of the trip later tonight. I am off the get Spencer at school.