SPRING BREAK 2009!!!

I can't express with mere words just how much our family needs this little break. It seems this entire year so far has been focused on cancer and how to juggle it with school, work, church, ...well, you get the picture!

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When I woke up yesterday morning, it was with the great excitement, knowing that in just 5 hours I would be off work for 9 days and we would be ready to kick spring break into high gear. Usually we get to spring break and I turn into a tight wad. There are just so many "empty" days, and the temptation is to fill those days with things that cost A LOT of money. Well, this year I decided that I would take the money that Bran made in Texas and make sure everything was paid up for the month so that I could take my WHOLE paycheck and make it all about spring break! Now, don't get me wrong, by all paid up, I am obviously excluding the mountain of debt we are accumulating for my treatment...but who's counting pennies! I had one of "those moments" a few days ago when I proudly paid off a $1o2 bill to the Radiology Clinic only to open a $23,ooo dollar bill for the first 3 chemo treatments! AAAAHHHHHA!

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Anyway, back to the day before spring break...I was just pulling out of the driveway when I realized I was going to be sick. So I ran back in the house and proceeded with business. Just as I was catching my breath, I was hit with the most horrible crippling pain in the back of my head. Next thing I know I am face down on the floor and was pretty sure I had passed out for a moment. (why else would my face be on the floor in a bathroom where 4 boys do their business?) When I got my wits about me I began to wonder if I was going to die from the pain. My poor boys and dad were all out in the hall freaking out from all the moaning and crying I was doing.

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Fast forward a bit. After 20 minutes or so I had was able to drive on to work and call the dr. They wanted me to come in for an MRI just to check things out. This was not EXACTLY how I planned for the first wonderful hours of spring break to go! I did decided one thing, if you don't have a brain bleed when you go into the MRI machine...you will when you come out! Anyway, MRI was fine & they concluded that my pain was from severe dehydration. I had to spend an hour getting fluids and then it was back to spring break for real!

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Since it was just too cold to take the boys to the Florida game, we decided to take them to Backyard Burger and to see Escape to Witch Mountain. Riley deemed it the best movie he had ever seen. It was super boy friendly without even one single spot where Bran and I exchanged weary glances about some adult innuendo or even one word we had to pray our boys wouldn't repeat at church! In other words...A GREAT MOVIE!

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Ok, that was all yesterday. This morning we headed to Gentry Zoo by way of Cracker Barrel. The weather was not great, but we pushed on and had a great time. We met up with Derek and Valerie once we got there. Here are just a few of the animals we met...

In addition to bread, we brought carrots and apples. They really seemed to dig that!

Some of the tigers were really feisty today, but I never had the camera ready when they were playing. This big guy was to good to play.

We really loved meeting this wolf family.

This lion was not looking at us, but the deer just a few feet away from him...

Then of course, the prairiedogs...everyones favorite little rodents!

Next we moved on the the monkey winter house. This big guy would talk to Val when she said hello. He really enjoyed showing off for us.

We also got to meet Cloie. She was just soooooo sweet. She climbed all over the boys and even had to check out the fur on my jacket.

Since it's such hard workclimbing on people, she had to take a little break for a quick drink.

After the monkeys, we moved on to the petting area. We were really blessed that the drizzle stopped long enough for the boys to get some hands on time with the animals. This is one of the first ducks met. Derek named him Einstein.


There were some really sweet rabbits the boys enjoyed feeding.


Riley just had to have a picture on the lion.

Me and my sweetie!

Val, Derek and Bran.
Everywhere the boys went they had lots of fans begging for their attention.

In spite of the crappy weather we had a great time together. When we got home I made a trip to Wal-Mart to pick up all the supplies we need for the trip to the cabin tomorrow. IT TAKES A LOT OF FOOD TO FEED 6 BOYS AND ONE MAN! So, it's off to cabin tomorrow...more on that in a few days. Have a great spring break!!