The Stovers

AMEN

2008-10-31T16:35:00.000-04:00

As a military family, I have to whole-heartedly support this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8

Cleveland airshow

2008-09-14T10:48:00.005-04:00

So in addition to everything else, we also took the kids to the Cleveland Air Show this summer! It was an easy drive up there, drove right to the Burke airport, but it took us almost as long to find parking as it did to get there! It was worth it, though, and the kids (and Jamie) had a great time! The Blue Angels were scheduled to fly at 4:30 the day we were there, but it was incredibly hot and unbelievably crowded so we left about 3:30. I have no idea exactly which planes these pictures are of, but the boys loved them and Andy is the one that took most of them!

They had a neat thing- a Shockwave Jet Truck- it's a jet engine on a semi, goes something like 300+ MPH in around 6 seconds! With everything else that was there, I really think the boys liked this the best!

They also had the Army's Golden Knights Paratroopers! The last time I saw them was at an airshow in Charleston WV when Andy was a month old, it was very neat to see them again!

Soccer season...

2008-09-14T10:38:00.003-04:00

So Alec is playing soccer this fall and Andy is playing football. We've done soccer in our family, Alec played last spring and Andy played several years in SC, but football is new...

Anyway, his first game was a couple of weekends ago and they won 6-2! He played goalie the first half, not my favorite position for my kids at all, and moved to forward the second half. He did great, got a couple of saves in goalie and a couple of great assists!

Take me out to the ballgame........

2008-09-14T10:12:00.009-04:00

So for Andy's 11th birthday, we got him tickets to the Cincinatti Reds and Chicago Cubs game. Since he was a tiny boy, he's been a HUGE Cubs fan- we used to have to call Chicago "ORD" (their airport code, J worked for an airline back then) because if Andy heard the word Chicago he'd go NUTS!

Needless to say he was THRILLED! So last Sunday he and Jamie drove to Cincinnati and Andy got to see his beloved Cubbies in person! They lost 4-3, but he loved it anyway!

The next weekend we had his "friends" party- all he wanted to do was play football in the yard!

They all had a great time, even though Andy threw his only football onto the roof and it got stuck and they ended up having to play kickball!

Bad words- Spongebob style!

2008-09-14T10:01:00.002-04:00

So Kate is selling candy bars for her school (any buyers? they're only $1!!!) and this morning she notices the box and asks for one. I told her no, that it's too early and she just had breakfast. Her response, "Oh man, barnacles!"

How you can tell we're a military family...

2008-09-09T14:35:00.003-04:00

So Kate and I are shopping at the local WalMart yesterday, wandering aisle-to-aisle picking up the few things that were on our list and the many things that weren't. We're going through the dairy aisle and K asked for cheese sticks. I'm all for them eating healthily, but come on- why pay a fortune for pre-sliced cheese sticks when you can buy a block and cut it yourself!? (insert required "cut-the-cheese" boy-joke here) So I'm looking through the section of block cheeses and K is fussing, she wants the "camouflage" cheese. I look and look, then realize she's asking for a block of marbled colby-jack. All the moms around us just laughed....

School IN!!!

2008-09-05T11:23:00.005-04:00

So this is the kids' first week of school, and boy have I enjoyed the quiet! Well, at least the quiet mornings...

Andy is now in 5th grade. So far he hasn't said much about it, he has a couple of buddies in his class, lots of "nerds" (according to him). He's also playing football this fall, TACKLE football- and let me tell you, it'll be all I can do not to run on the field and beat the poor kid that knocks my baby down! No, I'm not really going to be that bad, but I'm not making any promises yet!

Alec is now in 3rd grade. So far he's told me all about the girls in his class and not much else! Yes, my boy is a total ladies-man! He seems to really like school so far, he's not crazy about math, but he loves reading (yep, he's my boy!). He's playing soccer this fall and has his first game tomorrow!

Kate is in 4K 5 mornings a week at the school at our church. She likes it, but would like it better if I'd stay with her! She doesn't cry in the mornings, which I'm VERY glad about, but she doesn't want me to leave. Her teachers are great, though, they're always quick to get her involved with something so that I can sneak out. She comes home full of crazy stories (this week she's been acting like a pirate, complete with plastic eye patch and a hearty, "AARRGHHH, ladies" (instead of MATEYS) and is quick to tell me which of her friends has a "boyfriend". Not sure what that means to a 4-year-old, but it's funny to hear her to talk about!

School for me starts on 9/22 and I'm SO excited! It almost seems crazy that I'm finally starting clinicals, I've been waiting forever! My schedule for the first quarter is pretty easy, luckily I'm only taking one class- Mondays 8-8:50, Tuesdays 9-9:50, Wednesdays 10-10:50 and 1-2:50, off on Thursdays and Fridays 7-1:50.

This weekend is Andy's birthday party- a house full of boys playing football, should be fun! I'll post pictures in a couple of days...

FINALLY! (aka It's About Time OR The End Is In Sight!!!)

2008-08-10T11:03:00.003-04:00

So I'm FINALLY starting the last phase of nursing school- clinicals!!! The wait list at every college I've heard of is extremely long, so I've been on a waiting list this whole time. I was #96 on the list for ADN clinicals and rumor has it they take 100 students every fall, so presumably I was in, right? Nope.

At the end of the spring semester I went ahead and put myself on the LPN waiting list as well, so that hopefully I'd be starting one of the two programs this fall. I got accepted to start the LPN program about a week after I added myself, so I knew I'd be starting at least that, but I really wanted to start the ADN program so that I'd be that much closer to being done.

They sent out acceptance letters in rounds, and I knew I was getting close but wasn't getting in. I made arrangements for Kate and registered for LPN classes and had pretty much give up on getting into ADN clinicals this fall, then TA DA!! I got in!!!

So now I'm taking classes Mondays and Tuesdays, a lab on Wednesdays, off on Thursdays, and working in a nursing home one city up on Fridays! I have a good friend in at least one of the classes with me, so that'll be even better!

So stay healthy, everyone, I'm almost ready to be your nurse!

I'll remind him of this conversation in a few years

2008-08-02T20:39:00.003-04:00

Alec: Mom, do you know what a French Kiss is?
Me: Um, I think so, do you?
Alec: Yeah, it's where you put your tongue in the other person's mouth (said with a look of total disgust), why would you do that??
Me: Um......

Long time no post...

2008-07-31T13:13:00.002-04:00

Ok, so it's been a little busy around here this summer! How about an update on each of us:

Jamie's big news is that he's been accepted to the Senior NCO academy! There are only 150 seats available to the whole Air Force, so it's a really big deal that he got accepted. We've heard that it's not unusual to apply more than once, and he got in on his first try, so that's even better! He leaves in March for 7 weeks, I'm not looking forward to that part, but it'll be great for his career! His other big news is that he's finished associates degree#3! He now holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management/Human Resources Management and Associate Degrees in Aviation Operations, Aviation Management and the newest-Information Systems Technology . He's also been playing softball for our church's team- they suck pretty bad, but he's had fun and made some friends.

Andy spent a week of his summer vacation at Camp Graham in Western Ohio! He had a blast and they did the most fun things! He went canoeing down the Little Miami River, searched for fossils in a creek, played Capture the Flag, swam, learned archery- all the typical camp things! He's already looking forward to next year. It was really hard to leave him- I knew he'd be fine, but it was the first time ever I didn't know what he was doing and who he was with- very hard for a momma! Midget-league football should be starting soon, so he's excited about that, and he'll be starting 5th grade in September.

Alec spent his summer home with me, he's not old enough to go to Camp Graham till next year. He had fun with the Library's summer reading program and has been working on perfecting his artwork! He started soccer last week and is having a lot of fun with that. He'll be in 3rd grade this year.

Kate is her usual wild-child self! She's been pestering her brothers, kissing up to her daddy and has been attached to my side all summer! We haven't done much away from home this year, most of our summer has been spent outside in the yard. She's had a blast catching lightning bugs and roly polys, there are a whole lot of bugs she's afraid of! She's finally sleeping in her OWN ROOM!!!! Well, unless it's storming, then all bets are off! She starts preschool 5 mornings a week this fall- same room where she has Sunday School, but I know she'll throw a fit every morning, I'm NOT looking forward to that!

I haven't done much this summer, other than keep the kids from killing each other! I took a required STNA class (State Trained Nurse Aid) for 2 weeks and a 2-night CPR class, both in preparation for starting nursing clinicals this fall. It's been an expensive summer for us because of my school- the STNA class was $550, the state boards are $100, the CPR class was $50, my school uniform is $200+, I know it'll be worth it in the end, but it's been crazy what all we've had to pay for. There's still a chance I'll make it into RN clinicals, they have about 8 seats open still and I'm about 5th on the list, so I'm crossing my fingers for that. If I don't make RN, I'm scheduled to start LPN clinicals, so it wont be too big of a deal, I'd really like to get it over with now, though.

Maybe next time I'll just get it at Kroger!

2008-04-24T21:01:00.003-04:00

So I've been nursing a batch of sourdough starter for 2 weeks, finally drug out the bread machine and attempted my first loaf! Got all the ingredients added, started the machine, everything looks great! Then when it was done, it beeped like it's supposed to, I peep inside the little window and it's completely sunken in! I thought maybe it needed baked a little longer than I'd set the machine for, so I left it in for a few more minutes. After 15 minutes of beeping, I gave up and tried pushing the button marked "Start/Stop" to turn the whole oven off. Apparently the button doesn't turn it off, but if you hold it down like I did, it'll start mixing again! So I mixed the middle of the bread completely out, hollowed the whole loaf out! It smelled great and tasted ok, a little bland... I'll try again, I worked too hard on the starter to give up!

Surgery

2008-04-24T11:08:00.003-04:00

So Kate's hernia surgery is over! It went really well, she was fussing the next morning because we wouldn't let her rider her new bike, I'm taking that as a sign that she's healing nicely!

Lets see... We got to the hospital at 11am and got her changed into a HUGE gown, HUGE pants and HUGE socks- just because she's 4 doesn't mean she's as big as most 4-year-olds! Then we were off to play in the waiting room.

The first nurse comes to get us to do vitals. Kate decides right off that she's not having it. First up was her weight- no deal. She throws a screaming fit, wraps her arms and legs around J's body and won't let go! The ended up weighing both of them, then I took her and they weighed J by himself. She's a whopping 29lbs! Then off to an exam room to get her blood pressure (went slightly better, she's used to playing with my BP cuff) and her pulse. I think she thought they were going to kill her at this point, she absolutely screamed nonstop the whole time! I even put the meter on my own finger to show her it wouldn't hurt and she didn't care. We ended up holding her down- J had her arms, I had one leg and the nurse had the other- they put a teensy bandaid-type meter on her tiny toe and put the big sock back on- she actually kicked the nurse a few times!

So after that fiesta, we went back to the waiting room where there was a standard black Poodle surrounded by 100 little kids in ginormous gowns! Kate liked looking at it, but she wasn't willing to actually touch it! Then a lady from Family Services came out with a big box of stuff to show Kate: surgical masks, the masks K'd wear to get the anesthetic, stuff like that. She let K try on the masks and put them on us, then she took her down the hallway to get hats for us. They were watching to see how she'd do without us and letting her get used to the attire the surgeon and staff would be wearing in the OR. This has got to be the best idea, she was absolutely fine after this!

After another short wait we met with an anesthesiologist, answered the same questions as the 1st nurse, K picked out her "flavor" (raspberry), then we waited/played again.

Finally we went back to meet with the surgeon and the main anesthesiologist. Another round of the same questions (no, she's still not allergic to anything but Augmentin, no new loose teeth since they asked 5 minutes ago...) and the surgeon asked her to lay down so he could mark her hernias. She hopped up on the table, we showed him the hernias and when he went to mark them she freaked out and jumped about 50 feet! We had to reassure her he was only holding a pen, she though for sure he was going to "shot" her!

When he left his nurse came in to take K. I thought for sure she'd freak out again, or at least cry, but no- she took the nurse's hand and before they turned the corner K was laughing about something!

We were in the waiting room long enough for me to read 2 magazines when Dr Pittinger came in. Her surgery took half an hour (he'd originally said it could take up to an hour and a half) and she was already in recovery! Everything went very well, they fixed the hernias, bandaged her up and she was being woken up. After a few minutes we got to go back and see her! She was laying on her side facing away from us and the nurse with her said she'd already been talking about having a birthday that weekend and telling her about her party at Chuck E Cheese! Of course the second she heard our voices she started crying, but the nurse said that that's normal. She wanted to be held, so J got her and rocked her to sleep. We moved to the 2nd recovery room shortly after this and J and I watched Spongebob while she slept. She woke and asked to lay in the bed, and when we moved her she said she was sick. I got an emesis basin under her chin just in time for her to burp loud enough to shake the walls, then she was fine! She slept for about half an hour more, then we got her discharge info, they took out her IV and we got her dressed. She was very excited to ride in a wagon from the recovery room to the car!

She slept most of the way home, and dozed on and off the rest of the evening. She had Motrin for pain, didn't seem to be in enough to get her prescription filled, which was great! The next morning is when she cried because we wouldn't let her ride her bike!

Happy Birthday, Kate!

2008-04-19T20:04:00.004-04:00

So somehow the years have flown by and my baby girl is now a grown-up 4 year old! I don't know how I didn't realize it was going by so fast!

We had her birthday party at Chuck E Cheese (chaotic, but at least the massive mess wasn't at MY house!) and they all had lots of fun! There were 13 kids in all, plus moms and a few dads. We had a blast! Kate even let us get her next to Chuck E! She's been terrified of him for years, but when she saw her girlfriends hugging him, she had to do it, too!

Jamie and I got her a big-girl bike! She got it first thing this morning, it was a little too big to wrap and take to the party! She was SO excited, she hurried and got dressed and started asking to go on a bike ride. She rode circles through the house- den, kitchen, hallway, dining room- and really got the hang of it pretty quickly!

I'm going to go play with the kids now, turns out they grow up fast whether you pay attention or not, and I don't want to miss any of it!

So I found out what to expect next!

2008-04-13T22:08:00.007-04:00

So this was drill weekend, and we always have J's troops over for dinner and whatever. Kate has totally fallen head-over-heels in love with 2 of the guys, Brandon and Chris. Last night, everyone was starting to leave and before too long it was Brandon, Chris and Jemen (another of J's troops, who Kate had been playing tea party with all evening). When they were the only ones left, Kate turns to Jemen and says, "You can go now, I want to spend time with my boys." What on earth will she be doing/saying when she's 16??

The weather has been much better (until this weekend, but that's another post...) and Kate and I have enjoyed watching the kids play on the school playground. I hear she and Alec yelling across the backyard every day, and sometimes I sneak and take pictures! Can you see him?

And finally, my sweet, beautiful daughter has apparently inherited her mother's penchant for body art! Luckily (HOPEFULLY!) these are washable markers!

Latest funny Kate story!

2008-04-13T18:22:00.002-04:00

What in the world am I going to do with this child??

So Jamie was home alone with Kate and all of a sudden he hears her in the kitchen laughing hysterically. Sometimes that's a beautiful sound, nothing warms the heart like a child's laughter, right? Well, we've learned the hard way that it usually means she's up to something.

Molly, our 6-month-old English Springer Spaniel was in the kitchen eating and Kate had gone in with her. There stands Kate, PANTS DOWN, and there's Molly behind her, licking her fanny!

Seriously, what will she do next??? I'm almost afraid to ask!

We're off to see the wizard

2008-04-11T21:14:00.002-04:00

So tonight starts the LONG tornado scare-season! I'm not sure when the actual season is, but so far tonight we've been to the basement twice!

Introducing the latest Stover blog feature- The Tornado Count! Might be fun to keep track of our basement trips! Count along with us, the counter is over on the right.

Just what I needed- another way to waste time on the computer!

2008-03-28T14:39:00.002-04:00

Ok, so my cousin and BFF Kathy (hey Kathy!!) sent me a link to a program (service?) I saw several months ago and forgot about- http://www.stumbleupon.com/. Oh my gosh, I was up till 1am last night playing with it! Here's what you do- download their program (service?), register, click things you're interested on a list, then when you're all set up, you just click a little button at the top of your screen that says "Stumble". How cool- it gives you a different website every time and all related to whatever you said you're interested in! I clicked things like K-12 education, optical illusions (the boys love those), cooking, art, and it has given me some really cool sites! Here are some of the ones I've liked the most:

http://www.stellaceleste.com/htm/knots/tutorials.htm- this one teaches you all about how to make those really intricate Chinese knots, you never know when you'll use that kind of info!
http://www.cottonmonster.com/- I love these kinds of things, they're so cute and can't be that hard to make, right??
http://www.mysticalball.com/- The boys loved this one, they were amazed!
http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/marblemagnets- Hello- easy kid-made Mother's Day presents!
http://www.blingit.us/blog/2008/02/27/pictures-taken-just-at-the-right-time/- VERY funny, Kate and I had fun laughing at some of these!
http://catalogs.google.com/- because everyone that knows me knows I LOVE catalogs!
http://www.justaplant.com/story/index.html- Because, seriously?

So try it for yourself, see what kind of neat/odd/funny/gross/stupid things you can find!

Yet another Katie-created mess!

2008-03-25T11:07:00.002-04:00

So she had a great time cracking the Easter eggs and "smooshing" them with a fork to help Mama make egg salad. So great, that this morning she cracked a raw egg on the kitchen table! She wants "mumbled" eggs for breakfast, guess I'd better get some boiled and ready to go!

Easter, Stover-style!

2008-03-25T10:10:00.010-04:00

So coloring the eggs went well! I always worry when we mix dye and Stovers, but there were minimal messes and everything Cloroxed nicely! Jamie found a neat thing- it's like a top, but you put in a boiled egg, a few drops of the color that came with it, close the lid and pump the top. The egg gets bumped around and the color ends up looking marbled- very pretty!
The kids were very excited Easter morning! The EB left them lots of candy, plus movies for all 3, Webkinz for the boys and a Wonder Pets boat for Kate.
Church was great, we had a very nice sermon that made me cry! The boys stayed with us instead of going to children's church, so hopefully they got a lot out of it, too. It was hard picking clothes for K and I, I was dying to wear something spring-y, but it was in the 20s outside! Didn't manage to get any good pix, either- she was NOT cooperating! Same as usual, I guess!

And she'll wear rings on her fingers and bells on her toes

2008-03-22T22:21:00.002-04:00

So we actually hired a babysitter! We've been invited to join a supper club with a handful of couples from church and our first dinner is next Thursday. A few weeks ago we "bought" a teenage girl at a church auction, and I've told the kids her name and a few things about her. When I told them she would be coming next week, K was trying to figure out which girl she is. She asked, "Is she the girl with the necklace on her teeth?" I'd LOVE to know where she comes up with this stuff!

It's beginning to look a lot like........

2008-03-11T14:18:00.003-04:00

SNOW! LOTS AND LOTS OF SNOW! Seriously, someone turn it off! We got hit with an almost-blizzard this past weekend and WOW! The kids had school on Friday but came home a couple of hours early, and Jamie's drill weekend was cancelled! I honestly think this is the first time EVER I've seen a drill cancelled! So it starts snowing Friday afternoon, and oh, look how pretty! A few hours into it I was ready for it to be over and by the next night I was READY for it to be over! Jamie took the kids out the entire day Sunday, they shoveled the driveway (which took 4 hours!! Next year we're investing in a snowblower!) and then they sledded in the backyard and built a snowman! And then Monday, thank God, we were back to school and work and normal! Well, normal for us, anyway! I have more SNOW pictures on our website- www.flickr.com/photos/thestoverfamily /

Future blackmail photos!

2008-02-29T17:39:00.002-05:00

So Ben came over this week so that Jen could take Sarah to the doctor (she has the same high-fever flu we've all had lately). Kate had a new toy/bribe for sleeping in her own room that of course she had to share with him! Makeup! They came into the kitchen wearing matching sticker earrings, blue eyeshadow and HOT pink lipstick! Kate told me, "We're wubwey wadies"!!! Ben may not care now, but I bet this picture won't be one of his favorites in a few years!

The latest and greatest......

2008-02-17T22:17:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I haven't been able to post in a while because it's been a little crazy around here. Compared to how it's normally calm and peaceful. Yeah, right, like I can fool anyone with that!

So, lets see- what's been going on lately?

Friday was Alec's 8th birthday (Happy Birthday, Alec!!) and we had his party yesterday. Pretty much the last time we have a birthday party at our house, those kids were crazy! I'm boycotting goody bags (I know I'm not the only mom with kids that need NO MORE pencils, cheap candy, even cheaper toys...) so I had a great idea- lets have a craft! So off to the store and home again with foam visors, paint markers, and foam letters and ocean-y shapes. It sounded cute, sounded like something that'd take up about half the 2-hour party, the last hour saved for cake and presents. It lasted 15 minutes, tops. Only the girls took any time to make theirs pretty, the boys slapped a fish on theirs, wrote their name on with the markers and then resumed their lap-running and screaming through the house. Oh well.

I worked! A JOB, even! I was hired with a major florist to be a home agent for Valentines week. How bad could it be- work from home, on the computer, in my sweats! It was CRAZY! I had less than one second between calls! And let me tell you- people spend a LOT of money on flowers! It was fun, though, the flowers they have on their website are unbelievably beautiful and I got to talk to a lot of really neat people. I sent arrangements to France and South America and all over the country, "met" lots of really nice co-workers, helped lots of men come up with something sweet and gushy and romantic for their cards! I was amazed, though, how nasty people can be! I had several calls (on Valentine's Day morning, no less) for flowers to be sent to areas where our local florists were no longer accepting more orders, they were overbooked. This is my fault how?? It was very hard not to point out the customer's fault in the problem, but I kinda figured that would be frowned upon by my employers.

Then the flu hit. Hard. Everybody ended up with horrible, high fevers, LOTS of snot and coughing, it's been very pleasant around here! So far we're all almost over it, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Jamie has been hosing down everthing that'll stand still with Lysol, at least it smells 'clothesline fresh' around here! The house is an absolute disaster, too- the best we've been able to keep up with is laundry, but it's all laying on the couch (mostly folded) and there are toys and junk laying around everywhere! I try not to care, but you know....

...and then we played a great game of fetch!

2008-01-09T10:08:00.001-05:00

So Kate's been pretending to be a dog. A lot. To the point that she licks the top of her drinks and ate a cracker off the floor "like Molly does". It's cute, and I guess there are worse things she could be pretending to be, so I've played along.

Yesterday it was beautiful outside- 60 degrees, blue skies, breezy- so I had the back door open. She was crawling around barking as usual, and every once in a while she'd go out onto the patio and look for ladybugs (nothing to do with dogs, but that's her other favorite activity). I was just in the kitchen and I could hear her, but not see her. She came back in from one trip outside hitching at the waist of her jammies and told me, "Doggy pee-peed outside". Yep, she tinkled on the patio! I didn't see it, but I can just imagine her going outside and squatting like Molly does! I'm just glad no one was on the playground at the elementary school, especially not Alec! Poor kiddo- "Look, there's my little sister! That one right there, the one peeing on the patio!"

Time flies!

2007-12-30T20:03:00.000-05:00

Wow, I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of the year! Andy told me tonight that he thinks the year has gone by too fast, I told him to wait till he's my age, you blink and all of a sudden your baby is 11 and you're OLD!

So let's see, what's new with the Stovers???

Christmas was lots of fun! We pretty much spent 3 days in our jammies, always my favorite way to be! The kids got to open a couple of their presents early, namely their snow bibs and snow boots, but of course they wanted to open the traditional one gift on Christmas Eve! Jamie was up at 6:30 Christmas morning asking if I thought he should get the kids up! I said no, but was overruled, so we were up early! Santa brought sleds for everyone, but we haven't gotten to use them yet! He also brought Webkinz for the boys and a Strawberry Shortcake for Kate, they were all happy! They all got way too much, lots of neat toys and lots of clothes for all of them.

We've spent the week breaking in their toys and playing, enjoying their time off from school! Tomorrow Jen, Keith and the kids are coming over for New Years, I'm sure we'll eat ourselves silly and be in bed way before midnight! Jen and I spent 2 days making TONS of cookies last week, of course they're long gone now, and we're already planning our menu for tomorrow! I'm almost ready for the holidays to be over so I can stop eating!

I'm going to start a new family tradition this year- a time capsule! I've told the kids to think about what they want to put in it, and when we put our Christmas stuff back for the year I'll stick our time capsule in with it, then we'll open it next Christmas! I've been keeping all the Christmas cards we've gotten for several years now and it's always fun to go back and look at them, especially the pictures. I'm not sure yet what my contribution will be, definitely pictures of the kids and animals from throughout the year, but otherwise I havent decided yet.

So this week Jamie and the kids are home until Wednesday, then it's back to normal. I'm almost ready for it, it's been nice having them all home but I'm ready for everything to get back on track. I start school next week, Chemistry, English and Speech (I think, cant remember!). I'm absolutely dreading Chem, but I was dreading Microbiology, too, and I aced it and actually enjoyed it. I'm entertaining the idea of going back to work part-time, I havent found anything I want to do yet, though. I'd love to get on at the hospital 3rd shift, that way I'd have hospital experience, even though the patient care would be very limited, and I could still be home during the day. Kate really needs to be around other kids, so I think a few days of preschool would be good for her. Who knows what'll happen, I guess we'll see!

I noticed I haven't updated anyone on Alec and his "issues" in a while. He's now taking 40mg of Strattera at night and .25mg of Risperdal in the mornings, and they're working really well for him! He still has meltdowns, but only when he's really tired, and their severity and duration are much less than they used to be. He starts therapy next week with a Psychiatrist in Columbus next week, and I have high hopes for this attempt since the rest of his issues seem to be under control. I'm a little concerned about the possibility of having to drive to Columbus once a week, it's an hour one way and I dont want him to have to miss a day of school a week, so I'm anxious to see what they say about that next week. He has really blossomed this year in school, both socially and academically! His grades are excellent and his teacher says he's their class's best reader! I can see him at recess from my kitchen, and he plays and runs around just like the other kids, VERY nice to see! He's even having sleep-overs with one of his friends, a first for him! I love this kid so much, and it's been such a long road to this point, so I'm so happy to see him finally being able to be a normal kid.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2007-12-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

Look- a new post two days in a row! I rock! Actually, I thought it'd be a good idea to maybe try somehow to keep track of the funny things my kids say and do. A baby book would be a good place to record that kind of thing, I know, but since Andy's book is completed up to the point when Alec was born, Alec's has only his birth info in it, and Kate doesn't even have one, that probably wont happen. Ok, so lets see what my addled brain can remember:

Andy-
* one time he walked out the front door to see our dogwood tree covered in red berries. "Oooooh, look- ladybugs"!!
* one time at my mom's, he was about 18 or so months old, we went to see what had him so fascinated on her front porch- he'd speared about 7 or 8 ladybugs on a toothpick.

Alec-
* called piggies "pibbies"
* called something pointy "poinky"

Kate-
* looked at the bottom of Molly's (the puppy) foot and said "A clue!!!"
* Andy and J were in the kitchen looking for chapstick, Andy told J that my Burts Bees honey chapstick was on the shelf and J said, "I don't really like honey that well", K got a very worried look on her face and said, "You dont like Mommy anymore??"

Wow, pretty sad, that's all I can remember! In my defense it's 10:00 o'clock at night, the kids have been WOUND up all night and I've eaten way too many cookies!

Long time no see!

2007-12-12T21:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, I'm as good as keeping this up-to-date as I am everything else! So here's what's been going on with us this year- taken from my Christmas letter:

Seasons Greetings from the Great White North!
Jamie has the biggest news of the year, he graduated from college! He received his Bachelors of Science degree, cum laude, in Human Resources/Business Management from Park University. He finished classes and got his degree in early summer, but participated in the graduation ceremony at the Defense Supply Center in Columbus on November 17th. He is still enjoying his job as Command Post Superintendent with the Ohio Air National Guard, and has been chosen to teach the next Non-commissioned Officer Academy Satellite Course this winter. It’s a big honor to be asked to do this, since only few are qualified to do it, so we’re all proud he was one of the ones chosen!

Rebecca has been keeping herself busy with the kids all year, enjoying her time being home with them full-time. Between soccer games, play dates, scout meetings and lots of traveling over the summer; it’s been a non-stop year! Her biggest adventure this year was going back to college! She took 3 classes this fall, will take another 3 over the winter, and will have just a couple more to take before she’s ready for nursing clinicals! Her grades have been great so far and she was surprised to find that the one class she’s been dreading for years, Microbiology, turned out to be her favorite class ever!

Andrew is in the 4th grade this year and is enjoying it! He was asked to join an advanced reading group, Junior Great Books, and has had fun reading some new books. He has also joined the school orchestra, which thrills his mom, playing violin. His biggest thrill of the year came in the multiple trips to Cedar Point Amusement Park, he and Jamie went a grand total of 21 times! He’s having fun playing football at school every day and wants to play for the city league when they start again. He’s also turned into a die-hard WVU fan!

Alec is now in the 2nd grade and has turned into a great student! He’s the best reader in his class and loves to write and draw. He has a folder full of poems he’s written and is even working on a newspaper for his family! He had a great time playing soccer this past spring and got his first trophy! He joined the Cub Scouts this fall as a Wolf Scout and is working hard on getting his first few badges. He is joining Andy in playing the violin; getting mommy-taught lessons, and so far is having fun with it.

Katie is 3 ½ years old and is the definite princess of the house! She is full of energy and has two speeds- stop and fast. She has the men of the house wrapped around her little finger, even though she can be a little rotten with her brothers. She had her first “real” haircut in late October, all the ends are the same length and she finally can’t wear the pigtails she hates so much! She’s turned into a hopeless Daddy’s girl, she thinks her Daddy hung the moon, but Mommy is glad that at least she gets to be the favorite when Daddy is at work!

Last, but not least, Max is still watching the kids to make sure they’re safe (and giving him treats)! He’s an old man now, going on 11 years old, and would rather lie on his bed in front of the fireplace than chase a ball. He was joined this year by Molly, a 9-week old English Springer Spaniel, who he’s pretty sure we could have done without. Molly joined our family in November and has no problems reminding us that she’s around and ready to play!

We are all enjoying living in Ohio, even though Jamie prefers the weather back down South. We miss each and every one of you and hope this year ends with blessings and good health, and that next year is even better.

Ok, so there's a quickie update on the goings-on in the Stover household! Hopefully I'll be able to keep this better updated, but don't get your hopes up!

Happy 4th!

2007-07-05T12:33:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I'm a day late, but honestly, that seems to be the way my life goes!

We spent the holiday cleaning house and moving Alec's bedroom downstairs into Andy's bedroom! They actually wanted to share rooms again, how crazy is that? So while I swept and scrubbed and cussed at the amount of crap these kids leave in their wakes, Jamie carried all the toys and furniture and assorted junk down the stairs. Their room looks very nice, everything is in it's place, the beds are actually made, and you can walk through the room barefoot and not get impaled by anything! Now, did they sleep in their room last night? Well of course not, Alec fell asleep on the living room floor watching J play Sims Pets on the Wii and J caved and let them sleep in the living room. Again.

We had our friends Keith and Jen and their adorable kids over for dinner last night and had lots of fun! We had way too much food, which we all did our best to eat all of! I made Broccoli Salad, which is SOOO yummy, and we have LOTS of leftovers! I think we'll be sick of it before it's gone, I really did make way too much!

Jamie went back to work today, he's been home since he got back from MS last Friday and hasnt been at work since the end of May. He had something like 280+ emails to deal with, I bet he deleted most of them! Kate woke up and looked for him first thing this morning, then had a fit when I told her he wasn't here. She's calmed down, but I'm sure if one of us mentions his name she'll freak out again!

Today's plans?? Hit the library (I have a book I requested being held for me and today's the last day they'll hold it), maybe get to Krogers (they're having a sale on my beloved green tea- buy 2 get one free, that's over $5 in savings! haha), laundry, figure out dinner... Andy hasn't seen any of his friends since J got home last week, so I know he'll be asking for them before too long. Alec's best friend and his family left for a week-long vacation to Disney today, so he'll be bored I'm sure.

Speaking of Alec, here's an update on his meds and behavior. His Risperdal (for the ADHD) has been increased one notch to .5 mg (he was on .25 for a month, that's the lowest dosage) and he's still taking 5ml of Depakote (for the Bipolar disorder). We got back next Monday for a medcheck for the Depakote, I'm guessing it'll be increased, too. (5ml is the lowest dosage). We go next Wednesday to see his new child psych in Columbus, I really wanted to see someone closer, an hour each way is a lot, but our pediatrician wants us to see someone that specializes in children and this is the closest practice. I don't care, though, if it helps, an hour is a small price to pay. His behavior hasn't really improved at all. He still has "meltdowns" every day, but he apologizes quickly and at least realizes that he's done it. I still see a huge difference if he gets a nap every day. He usually has a screaming fit when I tell him it's time for a nap, but once he's "over" it and lays down he's usually asleep within minutes. I've started having a lot of problems with the way Andy relates to Alec. Usually Andy is very mild-mannered and sweet and kind, but he's getting to be a "pre-teen" (he tells me, anyway) and he's been instigating arguments a lot lately. He knows which buttons to push with Alec and he pushes them all! I'm trying to help Andy learn to deal with this, and I know Alec makes me crazy, but I can't handle all of them going crazy at the same time. Andy tells me all the time that it isn't fair, and I know that, but like the rest of us, he's going to have to deal.

That's it for now!

Welcome to our website!

2007-06-27T12:34:00.000-04:00

Thanks for visiting our website! While we already have a photo site (www.flickr.com/photos/thestoverfamily), this one will allow us to keep our friends and family informed on all the goings-on in our busy lives!

So far we've had a great summer! The boys spent a long weekend with our parents in WV and I got to fly to Biloxi to spend a MUCH needed long weekend with Jamie! He's been gone for 6 weeks now and we're all ready to have him home! He finished his last test today and will be leaving tomorrow after graduation! He has a LONG 15+ hour drive back, but once he's home, he'll be home for a while!

The boys have had a lot of fun playing with their friends and going to summer camp. I think our house has revolving doors, it seems like someone is always coming or going, but I love having them close by!

The biggest news this summer is that Jamie graduated from college! He received his Bachelors degree in Management & Human Resources cum laude from Park University!!! He's worked very hard for a very long time to get this degree, and I'm so excited for him! We're going to have a party later this summer to celebrate, he deserves it! We got his diploma in the mail last week and the first thing I did was take a picture of it and send it to him, he hasn't seen in it person yet! We'll get it framed and hung with his 2 Associates degrees as soon as we can, we have quite a wall of honor for him, don't we?!

Of course, now that he's done with college it's my turn to go back! I'm scheduled to start this fall, taking Chemistry, Human Growth & Development and Nutrition. I have about 3 quarters of classes to take and I will be starting my clinicals next fall. I'm excited, but scared to death! I've been home since I got pregnant with Kate and it's going to be really hard to leave her. She will be starting preschool 3 afternoons a week this fall, though, and her excitement about that makes it a lot easier.