Saturday, March 29, 2008

• The big review!

  Tuesday (two and a half weeks ago) -

  Rob left me with his parents still visiting and a house to put on the market.  Needless to say, I was running around like crazy, cleaning, entertaining and taking care of kids.

  Wednesday -

  Rob's parents went home, Natalie had a ball game and her first Activity Days Activity and Eric had practice.  Run, Run, Run!

  Thursday -

  

  Our house went on the market.  The sign is now in our front yard.  Yes, in case you don't already know, we are in the process of moving to Texas.  When we came home from the kid's doctors appointments after school (routine, no big deal), the sign was in our yard and Eric groaned very dramatically.  As soon as the car was in park, Eric jumped out of the car to grab his baseball bat so that he could destroy the for sale sign.  I also saw my surgeon today to schedule my surgery to have my port removed.  Couldn't wait for that one!  Also, talked to my Aunt Judy and sister Tiffany today discussing whether or not we should tell my mom and dad (who had just started high dose chemotherapy in preparation for his bone marrow transplant - very stressful!) that my Grandma (my mom's mom) was put in the hospital today with pnemonia.  When we finally decided to wait and not tell my mom for a couple of days, we discovered that Grandpa (my mom's dad) had already filled her in!  Crazy - never a moments rest!

  Friday -

  Woke up extra early so I could get Eric and Natalie ready for school and then left them alone to catch the bus on their own.  Then I took Tyler to a friends and was off to the hospital day surgery wing for my 8:00 arrival and 9:30 surgery.  I did it all on my own!  Rob is still out of town and so I thought I would surprise him by having my port gone when he got home.  It was a little scary, well, not really.  So not a big deal compared to what I've been through.  Dr. Martin and his assistant Ruth Ann have always been so nice to me and all of the nurses and surgical assistants were so nice to me.  It was a little uncomfortable but before I knew it, I was port free!  Yea!   Then it was off to weight watchers (remember my 4.8 lb loss!), a quick trip to Sam's club and them home to greet Rob, who just got home from his trip.  We grabbed a quick lunch (our form of dating anymore) and then picked up Tyler.  By then, I was a little worn out.  I rested a bit after school.  That night, we babysat Noah, Natalie's teacher's little baby for a few hours, watched a movie and hit the sack.  Never a dull moment!

  Saturday - It was a rainy day!  All softball and baseball games were cancelled.  I was exhausted so it was great to relax a little. 

  Sunday - Wednesday - Preparing and playing

  I spent the first part of the week preparing for the second part of the week.  I knew once Wednesday hit, there wouldn't be much time for anything else.

  Tyler had a really fun field trip to the Library and then to the Fire Station on Wednesday.  He had a great time and he can tell you everything he learned from fireman.  It was a fun day.

  

  Thursday-

  Tyler had a great Easter party.  They had an Easter Egg hunt and then a fun Easter lunch with his class mates.

  

   I was in charge of Enrichment Night on Thursday night so much of the week was spent preparing for the fun evening.  We, like so many other wards, did a Relief Society birthday celebration.  It was called "A Celebration of Sisterhood."  Personally, I loved it and I think the sisters who came did also.  It was all based around the elements of a birthday party.  We had six dinner tables set up and each one represented two months of the year.  I asked different sisters in our ward to contribute a centerpiece that represented their particular two months. It is really fun to see how creative people can be.  I really wish that I would have thought to take pictures. Anyway, a lot of the sisters in our ward always end up sitting next to the same sisters every activity, so we wanted to mix it up a bit.  We asked the sisters to sit at the tables that corresponded to the months that they were born.  It was great and I think it really mixed things up a bit.  Our Enrichment teacher (Stacie) gave a great lesson on the importance of celebrations, we played a game of Relief Society trivia (with prizes and all), we gave away gifts and paid tributes and spotlighted our ward's relief society presidency and then had a really fun talk/presentation on the importance of  laughter.  The night ended with, what else, cake and ice cream.  It was a lot of fun.

  Friday -

  I snuck in an early Weight Watcher's meeting (down 1.6 lbs) and then went home to get my kids so we could get going with our days activities.  We had to run to Sam's club to pick up veggie trays and then it was off to the church.

  Our ward was asked to be in charge of feeding the missionaries for their Zone Conference being held in our Stake Center.  I haven't been able to feed the missionaries for a very long time and probably won't be able to for a few more months because our house in on the market, so I thought maybe I could make up for it by volunteering to organize and execute this luncheon.  Am I crazy!?  First of all, I forgot that the kids didn't have school that day and secondly, we had enrichment the night before.  Well, it really was a great experience.  We decorated the tables for Easter and fed the missionaries sloppy joes, chips and veggies.  I had lots of help with serving and desserts.  My girl friends, Brittney and Marjorie, came with their kids and I had mine and we put them to work. Our kids were so excited to be serving the missionaries lunch and took their jobs very seriously.  It went really well and at the end of the lunch, the missionaries sang "As I Have Loved You."  It was great and when it was over, Natalie said, "That was beautiful."

  

  Our staff meeting....

  Saturday -

  Crazy, run, run day!  We were up early (Rob and Eric 6:30 for batting practice) and Tyler, Natalie and I were up at 7:00 for Eric's 8:00 baseball game.  Natalie and I were at her practice and missed Eric's homerun the night before when he had a game at 6:00pm.  It was his first hit in a baseball game and just happened to be a home run.  We are having so much fun watching him play.  He really loves it and looks so darn cute in his "Phillies" baseball uniform.

  Next, we went to a pancake breakfast fundraiser and then it was divide and conquer.  Tyler and I went to his friends birthday party and Rob, Eric and Natalie went to a friends going away party, complete with Easter Egg hunt and all.  Tyler and I made it for the tale end of the party and then it was off to Natalie's softball game.  It was a good weekend for the Norr kids playing ball.  Natalie got four great hits and received the team's game ball.  Her coaches said they were amazed that it was her first year playing.  Her team is the "Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets" and Natalie looks adorable in her navy blue and yellow uniform with her bright pink batting helmet and bright pink bat.  She is all girl who knows how to really wack a softball.

  We would have loved to go home but we had a house showing just as our long day was ending.  We stayed at the ballpark to watch a couple of Eric's friends play ball, grabbed something to eat and then thankfully were able to go home.  We were tired.  No rest for the weary though.  Too much to do to get ready for Easter Sunday the next day!

  Sunday-

  The Easter Bunny came and hid the kids Easter baskets.  We've asked the Easter bunny to come on Saturday in the past because we don't want to take away from the sacredness of the real meaning of Easter but as you have read, there just wasn't the opportunity to do it early this year.  It all worked out nicely though.  The kids were excited to not only find some yummy candy in their baskets but cheddar cheese rice cakes (a new favorite), Crocs, coloring books and sunglasses.  Thank you Easter bunny!

  

  After breakfast, we took a little bit of time to FINALLY color the eggs that I boilded on Monday.  This was our first opportunity to be together and decorate eggs.  I almost decided to just bag it but a tradition is a tradition.  It was a quick activity (nothing fancy this year) but it was still a lot of fun.  As soon as we were done, Natalie and Tyler couldn't wait to break a couple shells and enjoy a couple of hard boiled eggs.  I didn't even remember that they even liked hard boiled eggs

  .

  The rest of the morning was spent preparing Easter dinner and getting ready for church.  Luckily, I set the table earlier for Easter dinner.  I loved it and thought it would look good for showings.  I love having my dining room table set, especially for holidays.

   

  The boys got new ties and blue shirts to go with their suits and Natalie got a beautiful new dress with pink embroidered rose buds all over the dress.  I even got a new Easter outfit but didn't take time to get a family picture.  In fact, Rob was actually the one to grab the camera to take these great shots of the kids in their Easter clothes.  I think he is learning the routine!  :)

  

  Dinner was yummy and very nutritious.  We invited my brother Justin and his family to come as well as our good friends the Cheeks.  We had ham (I think it might just be the best one I've ever made.  I always have a hard time keeping it moist.), baked potatoes with all the fixins, spinach salad and yummy punch (thanks Brittney), and Justin's awesome rolls and steamed brocolli (thanks Justin and Clairissa).  For dessert, I made the kids these fun, egg shaped cupcakes and let them "decorate" their own eggs.  The adults had fresh berris and whipped cream with angel food cake.  It was delicious!!!!

  Rob had fun helping our cute little two year old niece, Avery, with her cake.  We adore Rocco and Avery.  I think the kids had a fun time. Natalie especially likes decorating cakes and does a really good job!

  

  Monday - Rob was off to California early in the morning and I was cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.  I had so much to do and had to get ready for our house hunting trip and more house showings.  With piano and school projects, the kids and I had plenty to do as well.  Natalie and I did all of her homework for the whole week tonight because I was afraid we wouldn't have time other nights.  She was a trooper and got it all done.

  Tuesday - more cleaning and preparing.  Eric and I whipped together the visual aid for a project and report due next week.  I knew we wouldn't have time to do it later with everything going on.  Then we were off  to the ball field.  Eric had to be at the ball fields at 5:00 for batting practice so Tyler, his BFF Seth, Natalie and I went for a walk through the park trails and then played at the park before the game.  The kids ate their lunchable dinner while I watched the first part of the game. That was all part of my plan to hopefully actually get to see a bit of the game and it actually worked for a little while.  Then they were off to play on the hill of dirt just behind the bleachers.  Boy howdy! You've never seen a couple of dirtier boys as those two got, but they were happy and I warned Stacie ahead of time that Seth would come home dirty so I wasn't too worried (or at least I tried not to be).  Plus, Eric's team was playing so well and it was so fun to watch.  He won!  Their first win of the season.  They've done well but always lost by one or two runs just at the very end.  We finally got home about 8:30, took showers and were in bed as soon as possible.

  Wednesday -

  Repeat of last night only Rob was home from his trip so he could help out.  Eric had to be at the park at 5:00 for his 6:00 game.  Tyler had spent the afternoon with his cousin Rocco, so we took Avery so Clairissa could watch Rocco  play soccer that night.  Avery had fun playing at the park and watching Eric's game, but we couldn't stay for the whole thing because Natalie had to get to Activity Days.  Avery and I ended up helping to watch a bunch of kids whose parents were at the church for a Primary meeting while we were waiting for Natalie.  We had fun and got home about 8:30. Shower, homework and off to bed.  Kids go to bed pretty easily when you wear them out!  :)

  Thursday -

  I got up early and hit the floor running.  I had us packed and ready for our trip by 9:00 am so that I could go to Weight Watchers (a day early) and  so the carpet cleaner could clean the upstairs carpets before we left for Texas.  This was all a plan to actually let the carpets dry for a few days before my kids started the process of dirtying the up again.  :)  I lost 1.4 lbs (yea!) but really don't feel like I've lost anything.  I still have a lot to go!  It is going to be slow going too but I guess that is good. Patience!

  I cleaned and packed the car.  We picked up the kids from school and it was off to the airport.  Plane trips are so much easier with older kids and electronic divices, although I'm proud to say that Eric and Natalie read their books for much of the flight.  Texas is great!  It was nice to get here.  The trip to Frisco seemed like a hike but it seems like a nice place and the kids had fun in the hot tub and made some friends at the hotel tonight.  We are unpacked and ready for a couple of days of house hunting.  It is going to be a whirl wind weekend.  Although it would be nice to visit with my parents, family and friends, we've decided to forego the visits this time.  Honestly, we are too tired to run around, we have a lot to do and learn about this place and know that, hopefully in a couple of months, we will live here and get to visit whenever we want to.

  It's been a crazy couple of weeks and a crazy couple of days here in Frisco.  We've seen sooooo many houses and are still trying to figure out what we want to do.  We are looking in Frisco because it will be a short commute for Rob (who has always had to deal with awful commutes) and Rob and I really want to focus on our family.  We want to do the right things but honestly, we are not 100% sure what that is. This trip was mostly to see how we feel about this area and to help the kids get excited to move to Texas.  This is really a hard move over all.  We are excited to be back in Texas and close to family but we also really love our home and friends in Georgia.  I'll have to fill you in about our trip when I get home.  It is late and I've been typing for way to long.  It is nice to get caught up though.  I hope I haven't bored you to death but this is my life and to me, it is anything but boring!

  • 11:55 PM
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