HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY......

Yesterday was the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.  We have a float in the parade each year for Cooper's Cause Foundation.  It is always so much fun and the kids love it.  However, it is a very long day and we were all exhausted last night but definitely another successful year!  Coop, Raelynn, members of families we have funded and friends road in the back of the float while the adults ran behind and handed out candy.  It was an amazingly beautiful day.  The kids were chanting "Coopers Cause" in the back and Raelynn and some of her friends had made signs to hold.  It is really so great to see how involved the kids are getting.

Today we spent all afternoon outside working on the yard.  I cannot ever remember cleaning out flower beds and mowing in the middle of March!  I went to try to get some flowers to plant and they still don't even have everything in.  This weather is crazy!!!  It felt great to be outside though.  Today was also very exciting as Raelynn FINALLY learned to ride her bike without training wheels.  She loves to roller skate and ride her scooter but has never shown much interest in bike riding.  This weekend she asked Terry to take off her training wheels.  She said she knew she could do it now.  We have tried this a few times in the past always with no success and training wheels go back on.  This time was different.  She took off riding and rode up and down the sidewalk several times.  It was so nice to watch her and she was so proud of herself. I was just relieved that she finally got it :)

Last week Coop and I had eye doctor appointments and the news was fantastic for Coop!  When he is wearing his glasses, he uses both eyes perfectly.  He has wonderful depth perception and is having no issues.  I am so relieved as I know how limiting our eye condition can be.  So besides the fact that we have went through 2 pairs of glasses in the last week, he is doing great!  As soon as our new replacements come in we are going to start looking at a more durable and flexible pair for every day use and keep his nice trendy glasses for special occasions.  He is so good with his glasses, always taking them off when he is wrestling or being rough or even just rolling around.  But those darn balls; soccer balls, basketballs, baseballs.....they just have a way of finding Coop's face!

So as my excitement usually lies in my kids, this past week the excitement was definitely with my work.  We are making some BIG changes and I find them all super exciting.  This past week we hired a new employee as my former co-worker moved back to Missouri.  She is doing great.  She had an insurance background so training has been much simpler than usual.  It is always exciting to start someone new but in addition to that we are moving our office in May.  I am so excited about this change for so many reasons.  We are moving to a better area of town and much closer to where I live and where the kids go to school and daycare which will make things much easier.  But more than that I am just excited to have a fresh start. I had set new professional goals for this year that are a little "out of the box" for me but what I think I needed to do to improve my position at work.  Anyway, this move seems to just fall right in to place to help me reach those goals and for our office to grow.  I can't wait to see what else this year holds for me professionally and for our entire office.  In addition to all that excitement, on Friday I got the greatest "bonus" ever!  I am now the proud owner of the New IPad!!!!  I have come to love my Mac technology more than I ever knew possible.  My iPhone and Mac Book have cut my time spent working on the foundation in half because they are so efficient and mobile.  I have been wanting an IPad since they came out to give me just a little more mobility and easy access while I am waiting on the kids or over my lunch hour etc.  Anyway on Friday Tom had told me he was waiting on an important package and to call him when it arrived but wouldn't tell me what was in it.  When our FedEx guy delivered it I told him I had to know what was inside.  He said that was easy it was the New iPad and that he had delivered tons of them in the past day.  I was so jealous of Tom for getting one.  I text him to let him know it had arrived and I did so in a manner that he knew I was jealous :).  He called after my text and proceeded to tell me it was for me!!!  I didn't know what to say!!!!! I sometimes feel like I am the luckiest person alive and maybe just a little spoiled too!!!  I wanted to rip right into the box and start setting it up but I maturely waited until I got home but my poor children were completely neglected the entire evening (I am only joking I made dinner and the works before ripping into it)  It is all set up and I am loving it already.  Tom and Jan have been amazing to me since the day I started there.  They were wonderful as we fought through Coop's surgeries never once making me feel like my job was in jeopardy as I sat with Coop at the hospital.  They give me time to do "Mom" things like help at a school parties and serve on our school's Site Council.  They make the balancing act of being a full time employee and a good Mom actually successful.  In turn I try to never take advantage of that and work hard for them.  I am so lucky to have found them 14 years ago and for them to have accepted me!!!  Oh how things have changed since then!!!  Thank you Tom and Jan sooooo much!  I love you both!!!