Owyn's Christmas Gift

Scott and I are visiting Owyn in Arizona and went out to buy him an early Christmas gift.  Looks like he really likes it.  I am so sad we will not be able to come back to Arizona to share our first grandchild's first Christmas.  We will miss you Owyn!

Scott finally meets Owyn

Scott and I are in Arizona for Thanksgiving and we are having a great time with our grandson Owyn!  He is an absolute doll and a comedian as well.  He is keeping us entertained.

 

He is the typical four month old who takes a look at something and tries to get a hold of it to stick it directly in his mouth.

Way to overwhelmed to post

I am currently in an overwhelming class and busy trying to get ready for student teaching, spending time in my classroom, getting in as many doctor appointments as possible before January, helping Sean get ready for his new job he starts tomorrow and preparing for our trip to Arizona for Thanksgiving.  I am exhausted!

So much snow already?

Sunday morning we woke up to almost a foot of snow.  Scott heard this is an El Nino year so we will most likely get slammed with snow.  Last year at this time we were still waiting for the first snow and this year I'm not sure how much snow there has been already maybe close to 4 feet?  The cool thing is Scott and I have finally gotten over the fear of a heavy snow.  Every time it snows we get out to take the dogs on a walk and we make sure we drive somewhere even if only Starbucks.

The nice thing about living here is that even if a crazy snow storm comes through it passes quickly and the sun comes out and melts it all away.

Highlands Ranch "Best Place to Raise Kids in Colorado"

 I took this picture on a walk with our dogs this fall, looking towards our neighborhood. 

Today I was watching the news as they discussed the Business Week article about the Best Place to Raise Your Kids and what do you know my own "Highlands Ranch" was ranked number one in Colorado.  I am not surprised at all since I did so much research before we decided to move here.  Highlands Ranch is very family and community oriented, the crime rate is low, kids play outside year round, four huge recreation centers are free to all community residents and the schools are great.  Boulder and Fort Collins are right behind.

Small closet solutions

Today I took on my side of the master bedroom closet.  My closet is always somewhat organized but I am always looking for more organization.  I am all about color coding in my closet however I can never decide how to organize.  I always sort my tops from light to dark colors starting with white and ending with black.  I never know where to stick orange and red?  If I have a dark red and then a light green or blue, it throws the whole scheme off visually.  Then my next dilemma is do I arrange short sleeve whites the long sleeve whites or do all the short sleeve then all the long sleeves? Do I separate the casual shirts from the dressy ones?  I am getting ready for student teaching so I decided to separate so the casual shirts are on the top rack and the dressy shirts on the bottom.  Storage bins in my closet are a necessity as the closet is SUPER small and requires creative storage utilities.  My project today involved labeling all my bins for quick recognition of items I need.  Like any girl I have a dozens of shoes and all with a purpose.  I have many of these shoes stored in plastic bins so they are easy to organize and do not collect dust.  I labeled every single bin today, I feel so accomplished!  Thank you Container Store. 

Poor Millie was so bored as she laid at the foot of the bed and pouted during my project.  As soon as I finished my project I redeemed myself by taking her out for a nice walk in the park.

Today's Project: Organizing my office

(Notice the Daybed in the office...Another bed available for a visitor)

I love changing things around, moving furniture and accessories from one room to another, painting and organizing.  Right now I am in a panic because I only have until January 4th to get any unemployment projects off my list as I will begin student teaching.  My house has been an absolute mess lately as I tear things out of closets, bins and totes trying to get organized. I have been moving things between rooms and reorganizing items in storage bins and totes.  I love picking up boxes, baskets and totes at discount stores like Ross and TJ Maxx here and there for organizing.  I have been doing this for so long I have boxes and basket for almost everything.

(The office closet is full of my work clothes, they haven't been worn for over 18 months now)

The storage boxes in my office store and organize all those annoying things I could never figure out where to put.  Each box houses things I don't use everyday, however would like to locate quickly if necessary and keep the room looking uncluttered.  I have individual boxes for product warranties, coupon, pens, receipts, birthday and holiday cards, scrapbook materials, miscellaneous cords and more.  My office has been kind of the catch all room since we moved to Colorado, and now I feel everything has a place.

(The bookshelf in the office displays some of the projects my kids made for me over the years, my Disney snow globe collection, and many photo albums and framed photos of our family.) - Notice the storage boxes -

Just another day of chores

Today I am scrubbing the inside of the house and Scott is outside raking up all those darn leaves and getting his dose of Vitamin D.  He asked me to go outside and take a picture of his pile. As headed out with my camera he decided to throw my little Millie into the pile thinking it would be cute.  I think it actually scared her.  Sometimes I like to think I enjoy doing household chores (exercise and thinking time), and then there are times I look at the work to be done and have an anxiety attack (too much and so little time). Well I guess my break is over, I need to get back to scrubbing the tub.

Last week winter....... this week fall

Last week I posted all the crazy snow as over 2 feet fell in our backyard.  One week later I am out back playing with the dogs on a warm 79 degree day in a sea of fall leaves.

Doctor appointment crunch time

Scott and I feel fortunate and blessed to have raised all of our children with great medical and dental care coverage since the day they were born.  Our children were able to have braces, cavities filled wisdom teeth pulled, tonsillectomies, and more.  We did not fear emergency room visits when Whitney feel down the outdoor steps and cut her lip open at 18 months or cut her knee crawling on her bed as a metal spring popped through.  The time Chelsea was crawling on the floor with pain and I laughed at her thinking she was a drama queen only to find out she had kidney stones.  Sean's visits as he was hit over the head with a block in preschool requiring stitches, more stitches after trying to juice his finger in Scott's Jack LaLanne Juicer, then again after dropping a weight on his other finger slicing it open, and many visits for heart alerts.  We were able to take Sean specialists for his hearing loss, heart defects and migraines.  Sean and Chelsea were both able to have an endoscopy after suffering with acid reflux for so long.  We never had to worry too much about mounting medical bills as our company offered insurance plans were very reasonable. 

 Chelsea's smile before and after braces

Whitney still has the scar today between her nose and lip on her right side from the fall. Not so easy to see in pictures.

  Sean with braces

Sean after slicing open his finger by dropping a weight on it.

Things are changing rapidly in regards to great company provided medical and dental benefits and now we are faced for the first time ever with concern over getting the necessary medical care.  Our current insurance requires ridiculous deductibles that are not manageable, and tries to deny any claim for any reason (requiring hours of phone calls and faxes). I recently discovered we have paid the maximum out of pocket for the year! How crazy!! I always see that number and think I hope we never have to pay that much in medical bills.  We did!  Now we have less than eight weeks of the year left for free medical care and I want to make sure I take care of everything I always put off because of concern for cost or other reasons.  Today I have made appointments for allergy testing, full physicals, orthodics, hearing and eye exams all before the end of the year.  I am so worried about where medical coverage and cost is going for next year and the years to follow and hope my children can raise their children without the worry of cost.