Halloween !!

We don't have as many pictures from halloween as usual because the kids were with Nana and Grandpa who had more fun hitting up as many houses as they can instead of posing and clicking the camera all day like mom does !!

Sarah and Samantha were both Royal Queens and Michael was Batman! We are SO overjoyed that he is now more into Batman than Spiderman. That was a REALLY long phase he went through !!!!

Mike and I were in Toldeo for 3 days seeing Daughtry the night of my birthday !! Mike suprised me with VIP backstage passes so of course I was in heaven !! We spent a good amount of time with them, went to soundcheck and had a blast at the VIP Lounge with the band members!! I have to say it was probably the best birthday I ever had !

I am up and about , thankful to be done with crutches, doctors and Physical therapy. I graduated from therapy last week and I have almost no problems with my ankle now. Just some stiffness at night and the morning and if I walk long distances it starts to ache and swell. It's good though, we are all pleased with how I healed and am just about back to normal !

Unfortunately that fateful minute cost me more than just that terrible break, it also cost me my job. My FMLA ran out while I was still not released from my doctor and Provena was looking to close a Tech position. I was an easy target since my job was no longer protected. (Although I was scheduled to go back the following week after I got the call ) .

In my opinion they made a huge mistake chosing me, with the most experience in the lab and being Registered.. but the Provena way is the cheap way and Techs right out of school cost them a heck of a lot less. It's their loss really, not mine. Another fine example of Quality vs. Quantity.

So for now I am enjoying time with Michael, and feel very much less stress.(Much less for Mike too ! ) It is nice to pick up the girls at 3:15 and be more hands on with homework and going to gymnastics.

Once Michael is in school full time and we figure out IF and where we are going to move I will figure out what hospital is best for me.

The kids are all doing well in school, and Michael has returned to Rogy's (his old daycare) they have a half day preschool program which he goes to twice a week. He is so happy to be back with all his friends and we all love Rogy's very much !!!!

1st day of school- 3rd grade!

Sarah and Samantha are so excited to be in 3rd grade. Both girls love their teachers and were thrilled to find they knew almost everyone in their classes. My girls are getting so big. The only thing to be nervous is that in 3rd grade, you wait outside until the bell rings and go straight to your class. (in K-2 you line up in the gym according to your class, and the teacher comes and gets you... very structured). They got the hang of it right away !

Of course I took tons of pictures of them in last few days.... It is really cool to see them getting ready in the morning. Lots of lip gloss going on over here!!

Getting back to normal (kind of)

Well, surgery #2 is done. What I thought was going to be easy is anything but. I hasn't been a week yet, but I still can't bear ANY weight on this ankle. I have no pain really, until I try and put a little weight on it. It's crazy. According to the doctor everything is healed. He took out the syndesmotic screw (what was replacing my tendons while they grew back) and he left in the plate and 7 screws. I can feel it under my skin.. very weird. And I finally got a name for what I screwed up so bad. Fibula dislocation fracture with Syndesmotic rupture. I didn't know the extent of the tendon ruptures until recently. Guess that is what hurts so bad.

Kids are starting school tommorow and are all excited to see their friends. Sarah is nervous about kids making fun of her because she is so short. She is a little shrimp compared to her sister even. I told her if they make fun of you, you can say "I might be short but I am way smarter than you" LOL. Not sure if thats good advice.. but it has to be better than running and crying, right?

Mike is starting grad school this week too. Some of his classes from Devry actually cross over so he only has 12 classes to take for his Masters degree. Not bad! It will be so worth it . It better be with how much we are paying for it. It's a tad costly to say the least. I'm so proud of him right now. He has gotten where he is in life and his career by hard work and determination. He finally has the position he deserves and so good at it. He runs the place like he owns it.

Michael is happy to still be home with mommy. I am delaying his return to Rogy's until I go back to work. An extra month of summer vaction won't hurt him. I know he misses his friends and teachers but he will be just fine:)

On a fun note.. Mike and I have been up to our usual concert going nuts!! He saw Korn a weeks ago and enjoyed that except for the rowdy crowd he always seems to get mixed up with. I think he just needs to stand a LITTLE further back from the stage. You are too old for the mosh pit honey.
We saw Nickelback for the 5th time friday. They blow me away every time. We were in awe of Daniel Adairs drum solo. That guy is something else.
And we are seeing Daughtry in Toledo on my birthday. Road trip! It will be so much fun to have a nice dinner, and stay in a hotel there. I was at ticketmaster 5 min before the presale on fri and got FOURTH row seats in section F1. Seats 1 and 2. Since the seats wrap around towards the stage, those seats are pretty much as close to the stage as you can get. I am beyond excited about that one.
I'm off to figure out odds and ends for school supplies and get new outfits ready for school tommorow. LOVE this time of year!!

Mommy's purple cast!

Here is Michael on his birthday .. he had lots of fun and had a few friends over that day. He is really enjoying his time home with mommy and gets to start school (daycare) a month later than planned. I am sure he misses his friends at school by now, but being at home has been fun too.

Here is Michael proudly displaying my purple cast. I am counting the days until I get it off!! My next surgery is Aug 18 and then I can start physical therapy. It has been a VERY long 8 weeks. I expect to be back to normal and to get back to work sometime mid to late September. I can tell you neither I or any member of my family will EVER run near a pool again. We will walk slowly and hold hands in fear!

I have no idea why the date on the picture says 1/18/2008. My camera keeps changing the date by itself.

Slumber PARTY !

Sarah and Samantha had 7 of their best friends sleep over for a cool slumber party thursday night. No one got much sleep, as we expected.

As you can see here, they had a rockin time. Check out the sweet girly cake. After filling them up with sugar all night, the giggles could be heard down the block !

How fast 8 years fly...

In 2 days my big girls will be 8. It seems like we were just nervous about bringing them home from the hospital, as clueless new parents.

Sam and Sarah will be in 3rd grade and are turning into little ladies (at least when people are around) . I hear this is the best time to enjoy your kids (before the preteen years hit) .

So happy early birthday my my beautiful girls!

I'm a slacker...

When it comes to Blogs at least.. this is my 3rd or 4th that I have abandoned. Poor thing! I can tell you my facebook is always updated though!!

Well , so much has happened around here in the Bestwina house. Mike graduated in March from Devry with a degree in Business Administration and will be starting grad school in just a few weeks. It will be a long 2 years , but we know he needs to do it and will afford him so many opportunities! Good luck Mike and study hard!

We had a GREAT vacation in June. We spent a week in Disney World. Saratoga springs was a beautiful resort. We hit up all 4 parks and the kids were dog tired every night. But then the following week we spent at a ocean front condo in Panama city Beach. It was relaxing, gorgeous , fun and just what we neede to recover from Disney.

Unfortunately the last night I had an accident by the pool (while running after Michael) and we extended our stay in Florida by 3 days while I had surgery on my ankle/leg . I now have a wonderful purple cast which I can't walk on for 8-10 weeks and have to have another surgery afterwards. So needless to say I am not working until late September. It is pretty boring at home, but I have my mom here to take my place. cooking, cleaning and yelling at the kids just like I would be.. Haha!

I am not the best at posting pics here, but I will try !!