Basketball Pictures....Finally!!

In no particular order...Riley is #6.

I survived!!

Today is a great day!! Last I blogged, I was in a slight funk. I just needed a few hours to shut down. Wednesday was a better day!!! I'm feeling so good about life. I miss Jake tremendously, but he comes home tonight!!! We get the weekend together. We are having pictures taken of the house on Sunday, and I think that means Monday is the official day our house goes on the market. 

Funny story...Every weekend, Riley has a journal to write in. He doesn't expand his thoughts much, and it's like pulling teeth to get him to write more than 2 sentences (he is expected to write 2 paragraphs.) He wrote, "My Dad moved away already. He will get to visit some days. I'm sad, but we will have fun when he comes back." I really hope Riley's teacher remembers the fact that Jake has been relocated, and doesn't think that our family is falling apart. Jake and I got a big laugh at this.

The Perfect Model

This past weekend, we were in Wichita. I had 2 very good parties, (Thanks Leesa and Joanna) and I got this great picture of 4 year old, Taylor. It's hard to tell in this picture, but Taylor is wearing every piece of "pink" jewelry, I had on display. She was great, and she layers so well!! Taylor was so entertaining, and made me laugh so hard!! She is such a cutie!

I just made it through Day 3 with Jake gone. It's been so much harder than I expected. I have the pressure of being full time mommy, learning a new job, and making sure we get past this last hurdle to get our house on the market by Monday (March 1st.) I'm struggling. I just didn't think it would be this hard. Thankfully, I found a sitter, here in the neighborhood, with reasonable prices. This will take a huge load off my shoulders, and my lovely neighbor that has been helping me out. This sitter also watches my blogging buddy's little boy (Riley's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Wessel)! Fun!!

Hello....

....we're the neurological~challenged family.

We all know Jake likes to grow tumors on his nervous system. Reece developed a tic last year, that kind of went away, and is now more frequent again. (It doesn't bother him, so it doesn't bother us) Now, I've been diagnosed with "Trigeminal Neuralgia." The doctor says it is an inflamed cranial nerve. There is no test to officially diagnose it, but by my description, he knew right away.

I went into the doctor on Wednesday afternoon, after almost 24 hours of a sharp, shooting pain in the right side of my head, above my eye. I get migraines on the left side of my head, so this was a complete different, not normal pain. When it first started, It was a huge jolt to my system, but as it continued, I got used to it. I still felt it, but the shock wasn't there. It definitely distracts me, but I'm always distracted, so what's new? The doctor says it should go away after a few days, but gave me a prescription just in case I needed it. Since it isn't keeping me awake, I'm going to do my best to deal with it. I'm on enough medicine, I don't want to add more. He did say very rarely, this becomes chronic. He has 2 other patients that it has been chronic, and one takes a daily medicine, the other had her nerve removed, which left a part of her face numb (or dead.)

Oh, the drama never ends here. Does Riley stand a chance of being the only normal McMillan? We shall see...

My Valentine's Locket

Reece made me a locket in preschool, for Valentines Day.

The front.
The inside.

The back.

*******************

For Valentine's I got a perfect box of chocolates. It was a heart, filled with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It took Jake a couple of years to learn, that I dislike the popular boxes of chocolate. The problem is that I'm so picky, and really dislike 95% of the chocolates in them. I'll find the caramel ones and throw out the rest. For years he just didn't get me any, which was fine with me. This year I got the Reese's. Yum!! Peanut butter + chocolate = heaven!!!

I got the boys some Super Mario Brothers pajamas, and some lego cars. The pajamas were a huge hit with Reece, and Riley was a big fan of the legos. Overall, we had a great Valentine's!!

I'm BAAaaack!!!!

But don't expect too much from me in these coming weeks. And in case you have forgotten what my boys look like, here are some pictures from their Valentine's parties. Please excuse their long, shaggy hair. We've been neglecting them for the house.

Riley's party was Tuesday the 9th. We had conferences this week, so it was a short week. He is concentrating on his "HEART" game, it's Valentine's BINGO. Reece was so nice and sat quietly next to him, except when he was telling me how hungry he was. He knew there was yummy food to be eaten, and Reece loves to eat! Riley was so nice to share his food too, without me having to ask!

Riley gets to sit next to his "Valentine," Alaina! They like each other so much, and thankfully Riley isn't an obnoxious, chasing, shoving kind of boy. They sit by each other at lunch too. When Riley didn't have school on Thursday, he made a homemade Valentine to put in the mail for her. It was so cute! I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it. He folded a paper in half, and on the inside wrote, "I hope you have a sweet Valentine." Then he drew a heart and wrote,"Be Mine." So sweet!

Reece's party was on Friday. Jake had to go, because I was working. They enjoyed a story, while they decorated and ate Pop Tarts, with a side of chocolate or strawberry milk.

They made Valentine carriers, just like they were mini mailmen. Here they are passing out Valentine's.

A week ago, we had this crazy snow. It started when we took Riley to school, and an hour later it looked like this. We got 7+ inches really quick. I had to snap a few pictures. It was a rare snow. It wasn't windy, it just came straight down. The flakes were huge, and the trees looked amazing. The roads were a mess for the day, but this snow ended up staying only on the grass. The next day, the streets were clear. Talk about the perfect snow. Everyday since then, it has snowed a little bit each day. Mostly just flurries, but enough for me to be O.V.E.R. it all!!
What's been going on? What hasn't been going on would be easier to answer. One month ago, I lost my job and the same day, Jake was approached for a better position. A couple weeks later, he was officially given the job. We are hustling trying to get the house on the market. He has been training in Topeka for a week, just commuting back and forth. Next Monday (Feb 21st) he will officially be in Salina. He will be commuting from there to Wichita, and coming home on his days off. When we sell our house, we can look at buying a house there. Lowes is giving us a lump sum check, but it's not as much as we were hoping, so paying for a hotel or an apartment just isn't in the cards.

Around the house we've done a ton of staging, paint touch ups, painted our kitchen countertops (which look really nice), and most importantly, I've packed away a lot of extra stuff that I think I can live with out for a bit. If I didn't pack it, it has been donated. How in the world do you buy a house, and your stuff just triples?! It's insane. I've been working so hard, that I don't want to move anymore. It's hard!!! You live in a house, that you feel is great, but when it comes to selling a house, you find so many things that need fixed up a bit. I'm not a perfectionist, but this house a created one, and I hate it. I feel sorry for people who are like this in every aspect of their lives. What an awful way to live. Hopefully, I didn't just offend a reader...

Riley was bothered for a while about moving. He didn't want to leave his friends. He was even dreaming about moving. Poor guy, he's such a worrier! Hope I can be there for him enough, to make this transition easier on him. He told me that, "I am scared to leave my friends...to make new friends...and to move to another country." Ha ha!! Thankfully, we will not be leaving America. Kids are so funny. Reece has informed me that, "moving is fun!" Since he is the expert. =)

To add to all of the other changes, I got a new job. It's very part time. I am working for a local Orthodontist. I am front desk, and will be working on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. I'm so excited about this job. It will be a very healthy environment, and I know it will be flexible for me, with Jake being gone most of the time. I haven't totally figured out my details with Reece needing a sitter yet, but I hope it comes together. (Anyone local, that knows of anyone that can handle a very well behaved 5 year old...let me know!!)