Thursday, April 24, 2008

Traffic court *UPDATE*

Well the GOOD news is that my reckless driving ticket did NOT land me in jail or with a suspended license!


The judge was kind enough to just sentence me to a $260.00 fine plus court costs.

However, the ticket will stay on my record and currently carries 6 points with the DMV (UGH!!). I believe I can take a driving course to get the points reduced - this is something I will have to check into.

Anyway - just thought I'd send an update!! :)

Rachel (AKA the girl in the RIGHT lane who you're all honking at now!)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Tomorrow is the BIG day!!!

Guys, you know I don't really look too hot in stripes.....so wish me luck! Keep your fingers crossed and say a few (thousand) prayers!

My court case for "RECKLESS DRIVING" is TOMORROW! RUT-ROW!!! My attorney has advised me that the judge in the county where I got my ticket has not been issuing jail time for people who were driving at speeds less than 95 ..........so THAT'S good news, right?? Hopefully I'll still have driving privileges when I leave!

I'll update you all tomorrow!!!

Rachel

But playing in the mud is so much fun, Mom!

Who says girls don't like to get dirty once in awhile? Here's some shots of the girls playing in this ..... muddy puddle in our front yard. It's actually the thing that covers the meter for the water usage but it's set below the level of the ground so water, leaves, etc. collects there and when it rains, there always seems to be kids splahsing in it. Well this was the first time my kids have been in it (we have a new lady watching the kids, Melissa, and she's obviously a LOT calmer about those kind of things than me..........LOL.........but the thing is they had a BLAST playing in the dirty puddle, so maybe I should let them be ....dirty....more often!!! Heeheeee!)


Here's some pictures and as you can tell, they were enjoying themselves quite thoroughly. Zach wasnt quite into the whole let's dunk our face in the puddle ... but he did pick up a new friend, apparently named "Worky" (a worm) and got into the action a little bit. Avery was literally throwing wet muddy leaves on top of Addie who thought it was hysterical - she was having a great time. It was too cute, so I had to get one or two (or ten) pictures!!!! Of course they headed straight for the bathtub afterward. (I'm curious to see how dirty the bathtub looks!!) Hope you enjoy the photos!


Have a great (muddy) day!

Hugs,

Rachel

What have we here? A puddle in the grass?

A worm? I think I'll call him Worky!

Have some wet leaves on your head Addie! Oh and don't mind my pants, they're falling down!

Wahoo! This is pretty fun! Our Mom never lets us play in the MUD!

Hey I found a flower down there. Let me smell it.

Blah to you too Avery!
Aww, Zach give Worky a kiss!
Hmm, let me lick up some of this water. Yum Yum, Avery!
Those leave sure make the fashion statement Addison!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Kayla's Prom 2008



Here are some pictures Beth sent us before Kayla left for PROM last night! Can you believe it? She looks positively incredible .... I know that when we went to prom we sure did not look this glamorous!

She went with her boyfriend Kory and I'm sure a group of friends, we can't wait to hear how much fun she had!!

She looks amazing ....Ok .... Kory looks pretty handsome too!! :)

(Daddy could have done without this picture.....heeheee!)

This is typical Kayla - being a goofball! Very cute!!

Kayla and some of her girlfriends !


Time sure flies....Kayla is going to be 17 in a few weeks ... Ben's going to be 12 ... Zach - FOUR this September. He's going to be in Preschool this fall getting ready for Kindergarten which he will start as a four year old next August/September (2009). You look at pictures like these and realize how fast time goes, I remember when I first met Kayla - she still looked like such a little girl...and seeing her now makes me just realize how fast time goes. Here's a picture of her from right after Zach was born. Look at the change in just 3 1/2 years! Unreal!!! Next thing I know the twins will be driving or something. Yikes!! You guys all just slow down, will ya???!!!!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Before / After

So....here's the before/after of our new floors that we had done last week.

What do you think? We love them! The kids love them too...much easier to zoom their cars on, or bounce a ball on - except they've learned it hurts much more than carpet when they fall! (Couple more bruises than normal this week!!)
Next project.............the light fixtures!! (Hallelujah, 'cause the ones they have in - I'm presuming are the standard ones that the builder put in 13 years ago are pretty much - let's just say, not our style.


















Love Story of a Lifetime .... Have you read this?

I read this article in the newspaper last weekend, and I meant to TIVO this episode of Good Morning America. Have you all heard of this guy, Randy Pausch, and his "Last Lecture"?

Here's a clip of the story and a link to GMA website to see a brief clip of the interview which includes some clips of the actual lecture. I couldn't figure out how to attach the video so I'm just posting the link at the bottom of this page, but I hope you click on it and watch the short video. Get the kleenex, you'll need it. I think you can see the whole lecture on Carnegie Mellon's website or Youtube ... but what a feel good, touching story. This guy is brave and I think it's a motivational story for all of us that when things are tough we just have to keep on pushing through. Really amazing.


Dying Professor's Lecture of a Lifetime
Randy Pausch Has Terminal Cancer, but Inspires Others With Lecture on Living Life to the Fullest

March 21, 2008 —

Update: Randy Pausch, a 47-year-old computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has terminal pancreatic cancer. He has been on palliative chemotherapy, intended to slow the growth of the tumors. The chemo worked well until two weeks ago, when side effects began causing congestive heart and renal failure, resulting in hospitalization. He is now at home, getting his strength back. Recently he wrote this note in his blog, "So I rest, and I rest, and I rest. The really good news is that at least based on blood markers the tumors are being very chivalrous and not taking advantage of this opportunity to run wild, before I'm strong enought to fight back."

In September, Pausch said goodbye to his students and the Pittsburgh college with one last lecture called "How to Live Your Childhood Dreams," on his life's journey and the lessons he's learned

Make sure to watch "The Last Lecture: A Love Story For Your Life" on ABC Wednesday April 9th, 10pm/9 CST.

The Wall Street Journal called it "the lecture of a lifetime" and those who have seen it have more than agreed.

A beloved professor at Carnegie Mellon, Pausch got a standing ovation from the 400-member audience before he even opened his mouth.

"Make me earn it," he told them.

No Self-Pity
Pausch, a father of three, talked about his battle with pancreatic cancer. "So in case there is anyone in the room who wandered in and didn't know my back story, my dad always said, 'If there is an elephant in the room, introduce him,'" Pausch said in the lecture.

"If you look at my [CT] scan, there are approximately 10 tumors in my liver. The doctors told me I had three to six months of good health left. That was a month ago so you can do the math."

The diagnosis was a grim reality, but Pausch doesn't do grim and he doesn't do self-pity.

"I've never understood pity and self-pity as an emotion," Pausch told Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" today. "We have a finite amount of time. Whether short or long, it doesn't matter. Life is to be lived."

The lecture is filled with jokes.

"We're not going to talk about spirituality and religion. Although I will tell you that I have experienced a deathbed conversion. I just bought a Macintosh. & Now I know I'd get 9 percent of the audience with that," Pausch said.

He also told the audience he was in "phenomenally good health" at the moment and even did a round of one-handed push-ups to prove it.

Patience Rewarded
Pausch said he looked back at family photos and saw that when he was a kid, he was smiling in every picture.

"So what were my childhood dreams? You may not agree with this list, but I was there. Being in zero gravity, playing in the National Football League, authoring an article in the World Book Encyclopedia. I guess you can tell the nerds early," he said in the lecture.

Though he achieved most of his childhood dreams, Pausch flashed his rejection letters on a screen and talked about career setbacks: "Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls aren't there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show us how badly we want things."

Pausch says he's not afraid of death, but does worry about the process of dying.

"Well the particular way I'm going to die is not going to be particularly pleasant. It will probably be physically uncomfortable and it won't be an easy thing for my wife and kids to watch," Pausch told Sawyer. "I think it will be a real challenge to see if I can squeeze the lemons hard enough to still get lemonade the last few weeks."

But Pausch said in the face of adversity, don't complain, just work harder. Your patience, he says, will eventually be rewarded.

"You know, life is a gift," Pausch told Sawyer. "Again, it sounds trite, but if you wait long enough, other people will show you their good side. If there's anything I've [learned] that is absolutely true. Sometimes it takes a lot longer than you might like. But the onus is on you to keep the hope and keep waiting."

Here's the link to the GMA website...take the few minutes to watch it. You won't regret it.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/PersonOfWeek/story?id=3633945&page=1

Have a great day everyone!

Rachel

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Have I mentioned lately ....

....That I am still completely in love with my camera? (And you too, honey ... it's not all about the camera, don't worry!!!!!!)

Here's some shots that I took of the girls tonight while Zach was at soccer practice....they have just been so photogenic these days. I've hardly got any pictures of my little guy lately (which as you ALL know is so TOTALLY unusual for me!!)

Thought I'd share, I'm proud of my picture-taking with my new camera! Bear with me, there's a bunch. We hardly EVER get any good shots of Avery ... she's the least "smiley" of the bunch USUALLY ... but she's getting better...and I got several really cute ones of her today!


Addie side view

Addie yelling something? Better close her mouth or a bug might fly in!

Avery with that tongue out...lol!
Addie looking all sweet? NOT! ;) Smile!
Hmm, I'll pick the dandelions!
We call these Addie's "Lookin' Eyes"
Addie was looking at a plane flying over

Avery - she' so happy!
The rest are all Ave ...

She looks like a little baby doll....



Anyway, just wanted to share my pictures.........Hope you have a great evening!
Hugs and kisses to all! Miss my family and friends back home!!!
xoxoxox
Rachel

We're fenced in!

We got a fence last week! Hooray! It is so much nicer to know that the kids can't get out front when we're working out back - even though we live in a cul-de-sac that is very quiet with a million kids who are always outside .... it just makes for so much more peace of mind.

Here's what it looks like! We're really happy with the way it turned out! I promise next home improvement project I post will be the before/after of the floors! We're so happy with them, they look fantastic!

View of the fence off to the left of the house

View from the right - we got a gate on both sides.
Just another picture - from the right of the house. This looks to the right corner of the yard - there is like a "garden" in the corner where different bushes/flowers grow throughout the year - mostly azaleas and hostas I think. If I ever get really Martha-Stewarty I'll plant some type of cutting garden back there ... I did try to plant some things last year - none of which grew. (Oh yeah, I did figure out why .... duh....I didn't check beforehand, but what I planted needed sunlight, and it's a totally shaded area. Yeah. Blonde moment. I'm definitely not Martha.....but if anyone knows her and wants to have her call me and give me a few pointers, I'd be most grateful, I'm a huge fan!! ) :)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Dude.........

Okay I have a quick funny story. You know your kid is getting older when other kids start calling him "dude."

Last week Sam and I took the kids to McDonald's for lunch and he was running around with some other kids - boys that looked right around his age - but there was one boy who looked like he was maybe a year or so older than him. Well Zach stopped by mom & dad to grab a drink (I know - so "uncool", right?) and this kid was like "Dude, hey Dude" to try to get Zach's attention and get him back on the playground thing. I was laughing so hard - I said Sam - that kid just called Zach Dude!! He's three and he's a DUDE. The things kids say are so funny!
It was amazing to see them playing in there because all three kids loved going up and down the winding tubes and the climbing things - and it was SO new for Zach (who has been to McDonald's probably three hundred times, I'm afraid to say) but three weeks or so ago was the first time he even DARED to set FOOT inside one of those things and his sisters - 15 months his junior and "against the rules" (which state that the playground is for kids 3 & up) went right in, climbed right up to the top, down the tube slide and everything .... they LOVE it! The first time we took the girls, they played so hard and ran up and down the tubes so much they were (literally - and this is not a joke) dripping in sweat -their hair was so wet it looked like they just came out of the tub - they had such a good time.
Though I don't recommend going if you're a germ-a-phobe ... they do get pretty stinking dirty ...lol! I bring the Purrell and just keep squirting it on them each time they decide to "grab a bite"! Some things, you just can't worry about - it's more fun to see them playing and having fun than a few germs once in a while!
Anyway, hope the "dude" story made you laugh!
Have a good night!

Please vote!

One of my friends forwarded this e-mail to me, it's from a lady who is a nurse at CHKD (Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters) here in Norfolk....and one of her patients who is being treated for cancer. Thought it would be nice for me to post and for you all to drop by this website, register if you don't mind (they don't sell your e-mail address) or vote as a guest ... and vote for this little girl to help make her dream come true. She looks like a sweetie.

One of the patients in the hematology/oncology clinic recently asked if I would help her make a music video to enter a contest to (among other things) meet the country band Rascal Flatts. Through my work with her over the past year or so, she has done a lot with their music (songwriting, emotional expression, CD recording, etc.). That being said, their music has meant a great deal to her during her treatment, and she really has her heart set on winning this and meeting these folks. The video she made is now on the contest website and ready to go, and now she has until April 15th to get as many votes as possible to have a chance that Rascal Flatts will look at the video and possibly select her to be the winner. PLEASE take a few minutes and follow this link to watch her video and vote for her. You can vote once a day until the contest ends in April, so bookmark the site and vote as often as possible! You can sign in as a guest and vote or register by giving them your email address to vote. It says your vote counts for more if you are registered. If you know anyone who would like to help her dream come true, please feel free to forward this to them and/or post it on your website—her Mom has given permission for this to be passed to anyone!! Thank you so much!

Leslie

Leslie Magee, MT-BC
CHKD Hospital School
601 Children's Lane
Norfolk, VA 23507
Phone: (757) 668-8521
Fax: (757) 668-7497



Monday, April 14, 2008

Dave Slagle update!!

Hey everyone, Sam gave me an update on Dave Slagle tonight and I realized I hadn't put a post up since the awesome news of his transplant! So... I thought I would let everyone know that Dave is recovering very well!

He was moved last week out of the hospital and into a rehabilitation center where he will apparently spend about a month. From what Sam told me Dave lost a lot of muscle strength (pretty normal I imagine after being in the hospital for so long) so I am presuming that part of his rehabilitation will be strengthening his muscles! I know Sam is so excited to get up to Pittsburgh to see his old college roommate and his wife Karen and he is very thankful, as I'm sure all the Slagle family is, for your prayers over the last few months - even though (like me) you've never even met him! Sam was so happy that Karen kept him in the loop throughout the whole process with daily updates, etc. so that he could pass on information to the rest of their fraternity brothers - it sure did make the waiting and praying for his quick recovery go by faster!

Let's all keep Dave in our thoughts and prayers a little longer as he goes through a few more tests and the process of getting on his feet and back into his home.

Even though I know he's probably not reading this ... here's wishing you a speedy transition Dave!

Sunny Days ...

...Keepin' the clouds away ... ;)

Well, we haven't had many "SUNNY DAYS" lately, that's for sure! I hope the April saying is true in like a lion, out like a lamb (or wait, is it April showers bring May flowers? I get confused!!) Either way ... it seems like it's been raining or gloomy for the past two weeks!

Here's some pictures of the kids from Sunday as we took a walk through our neighborhood. One cul-de-sac has this little bench swing in the middle that the kids always love to stop and swing on ... so we were able to grab a few shots.

By the way, our floors AND our fence are in. It has been gloomy so I haven't taken the pictures of the floors yet but I will do it this week and send out a full before/after group. You won't believe the difference it has made! We love having the fence too ... it's so nice to be able to be doing stuff in the yard and not have to worry about the kids running around out front.



Avery

Addie

Addie ...She looks like such a big girl. Where did my babies go???

Troublemaker? This is Avery (Correction - this is Addison, per Daddy!!!)- Can you see what she's doing with her tongue? I can't believe Sam got her mid-tongue roll! She rolls her tongue backwards, under her mouth. It's like if you stuck your tongue out and then curled it OVER your lip and under your tongue. Strangest thing I've ever seen! LOL!!!

Hope everyone is doing well! Have a great evening!

Love & Hugs!
Rachel xoxoxoxoxox