My Playschool Graduate

This past Tuesday, Ellie graduated from PLAYSCHOOL. Yes, you heard right...Playschool. I had mixed feelings about attending a graduation from Playschool, but of course I went and cheered on my littlest gal! This is my beef with playschool graduation. Aren't there enough graduations the way it is nowadays? I mean, when I went to school, we had a Nursery School graduation and HS graduation...and for those that continued their education, a college graduation. I can literally count with 2 hands how many graduations Ellie will go thru from now until the end of her college career....6! Isn't that crazy? I just think that by the time she's all done, will a graduation actually mean anything to her? Ok...I'm off my soapbox. Back to her fun-filled day.

It was so cute seeing her and all of her classmates singing their songs, all full of cuteness and giggles and laughter! It was basically just an adorable program without mortar boards and gowns. Ellie will now move on to the 3 day class next school year which will be Preschool. Here are some pictures from Ellie's big day. She did remind me of Cindy Brady a few times with the deer in the headlights look. None the less, my baby girl did a fabulous job and I'm so darn proud of her!!

♥♥♥I LOVE YOU, ELLIE♥♥♥

Everyone getting in their places...this took some time with 17 4 yr olds!

Ellie stating her name in the microphone, "Ellie Grace Sims" Great Job, Sweetie!

Singing a Christmas song with snowman props..."5 Little Snowmen"

Getting her Certificate of Completion from her favorite teacher, Miss Megan

My 3 favorite girls in the whole, wide world!!! Katie, Ellie and Maddie!


I'm so proud of all of the hardwork my 3 girls put in during this school year. They are so ready for Summer Break which will officially kick off on Wednesday after school. Great school year, Girls!!! Now, lets all sing together, "Schools...out...for...SUMMER!"

Pneumonia, Parent's Appreciation and Fires

This wk started off with a bang. I dropped off Ellie at the sitters house on Monday morning and she was fine, other than her having a typical Monday morning grumpy attitude (yes, it even affects our kids). 2 hrs later, I receive a call than Ellie was running a fever so my Mom gratuitously went and picked her up until I could cut out of work early. By the time I picked her up, this poor little girl was SICK. Temperature was up to almost 104 and she was breathing at 60 breaths/min. That is FAST. (Yes, I realize that when you have a fever, it affects your heart rate and breathing rate). But, she was listless, pale and at times, was turning cyanotic (blue) around her lips. It was VERY scary and I'm not sure how I remained calm now that I look back. Needless to say, to make a long story short, it was determined that she had RML/RLL bacterial pneumonia. I know this is all related to the MRI intubation she had nearly 2 wks ago. Ever since, she had developed this weird sounding cough and in the back of my mind, I KNEW this was going to turn into something. At least she is better now...she still has the cough which will more than likely take a while to rid itself. She's on antibiotics and is almost back to her normal, funny self.

Friday, Maddie's 2nd grade class had a Parent's Appreciation Program. It was so cute. They sang several songs, gave each parent various projects they had worked on this Spring, then presented a slide show of each kid's answer to this question: "Why do you love your mom and dad?" The answers were adorable!!! Maddie's response was that she loved her dad and myself "because we take her shopping at the mall"---yep, typical girl response. But it was heartfelt and genuine. I am so proud of her. She has struggled at times this year but she has tried her hardest, which is the only thing I ask of her. Here are a few pictures I took at the program.

Friday night, a local family completely lost their home to a fire caused by a lightening strike. It's so sad to think that within literally minutes, you can lose every possession you have. Luckily, all of them escaped without injury and they saved their pets as well. Their home was near my Mom's house so we were able to see it and it was completely devastating. Well, this was the perfect opportunity to bring up Fire Safety with Ellie. After going over what to do in a fire countess times, I thought I had it drilled into her head what to do--go outside to our "meeting spot" until Mommy or Daddy say otherwise. May I also add that we told her over and over again to not worry about anything except getting herself out safely. Upon quizzing her about her recent Fire Safety 101 course, I asked her what she should do if we found a fire in the house. Her response, "Stop, drop and rollover, then go get my favorite toy and go to the meeting spot." Guess we have some more teaching to do, huh....

Boy am I behind.....

I wish I knew the trick for time management. I can't believe it's been 2 wks since my last post. I guess I have a few good excuses....Ellie's MRI, my sister's visit, my birthday.... So, what am I so upset about?


I'm sure many of you read this on FB but I know I have a few friends who follow me that haven't heard Ellie's MRI results. So....we got some good news, I guess. Dr. Lubicky read Ellie's MRI and said her neck looks "good." However, knowing me (and should this really be a surprise to anybody???), this isn't good enough. After shouting out to my POLP moms, I got an email address to Dr. Mackenzie's nurse, Colleen, and just sent her an email. I am hoping Dr. Mackenzie (the Delaware ortho go-to doc) will look at all of Ellie's xray's and give me HIS clinical opinion. Once he gives me the nod that everything looks "good," then I will sigh some relief. But until then, I remain uncertain on the recent findings. Call me utterly pessimistic. I will say....public kudos to Dr. Lubicky who ordered the MRI in the first place. Before the actual MRI took place, I had the staff so freaked out about Ellie's unstable neck that they called Dr. Lubicky and he came down and positioned Ellie's neck himself for the film (because they were too afraid, I believe). I am still a little shocked but glad he did. So...what's next for Ellie....I have no idea, except for the constant love that's given to her by me and her daddy, her sisters, her Grandma's and Grandpa's, her Aunts and Uncles and Cousins....and everyone who knows her. Here are a few pics from the MRI day. I didn't get any afterwards because she was in NO mood for pictures. I can respect that.


Ellie after getting her hospital attire on. Suprise...way too long!!!!!!

Ellie getting wheeled down to for the MRI. No fear--Rudolph is in hand!

My sister's visit was great!!! We had a fabulous time with each other like we always do. We chilled on my birthday---we had lunch with my Dad, went boutique shopping with my Mom where I found myself a cute pair of Brighton sunglasses (another birthday present to me, from me), came home, watched the Derby and had a few Tecates with lime, then went out for Mexican. When we came home, we had birthday cake with 1 candle. HA! So much for my South Beach Diet this wkend.... Who cares! I had an awesome birthday and am so glad I got to spend it with Traci and the rest of my family. I can't wait for my vacay to her place in July....definately more Tecates will be consumed.

Ok...now I'm signing off to enjoy my Mother's Day. I hope everyone has a fantastic day!!!