Not Cool.

My poor biggest boy is so nervous about his MRI tomorrow that he almost threw up tonight. How unfair is that? 9 year olds should not have to worry about stuff like this... his brain should be full of normal 9 year old stuff - video games, girls he likes, music on his mp3 player. Not MRIs. Or oncology visits. Or cancer period. I wish I could take away his stress and add it to mine.... it breaks my heart that he's so worried. I hope he has a better day tomorrow. I'm so ready for this scan to just be done.

Boo for cancer...

Ugh. Joshua has his MRI on Wednesday. Why is it that once a year I have to go through all those yucky, nasty cancer feelings all over again. Once the scan is over, I will be able to neatly pack them away until next year. However, right now, my emotions are all over the place. I am not a fan. My little boy is scared this time. He's never been scared for a scan like this before. I try to talk to him about it, but I don't even think he knows exactly why he's worried. That sucks. At least if he can express, we can process and face it head on. That's not happening this time. Instead, we get to wait it out, knowing that after Wednesday, we can go back to our happy place and not think about cancer for a while. We're not expecting anything funky. He's so far out from diagnosis that he should be just fine. But, it's the "not knowing 100% for sure" and the "this happened once before" that gets in the way of those positive vibes... I look forward to seeing our oncologist and awesomely fabulous nurse at DeVos Children's Hospital. They are always so excited when they see us because of what a success story Joshua is. That's it.... I need to hold onto "success story". Maybe that will help me get a handle on my emotions. Maybe not, but at least it's worth a try. We scan Wednesday evening. I hope we get results quickly. I don't really want to wait until our oncology appointment. We've never had a scan first and then an oncology visit second... usually we see the oncologist for the "pre-MRI physical" and then we scan another day. I might have to put a call into the nurse... if she doesn't realize we're scanning on Wednesday, she might not know to call me with results ASAP :)

Gosh, I feel like it's been forever!!!

Holy cow. You know it's bad when you can't remember the last time you posted on your own blog! My life has been.... interesting... lately. I'm not going to go into all the details - I don't need my business all over cyberspace, lol, but suffice it to say that there hasn't been a dull moment. I guess I'll just do a quick post on the things that have happened over the weekend............ Saturday I went shopping. Without my kids. Just me and my mom. Rick was a peach and knew I needed a break from mommying, so he offered to keep the kids with him at work for the day. It was so nice to have a day off. Shopping was pretty much a bust - I hate when that happens! But, it was nice to spend time with my mom and get to be taken care of for a minute :) Sunday was the Cub Scout Blue and Gold. My boys earned their Webelos badges! I'm super proud of them - they worked hard. We had to perform a skit or a song at the banquet... have you ever tried to get a group of 4th grade boys to sing in public? Yeah... I'm pretty sure I did most of the singing. But, they made posters and we had props, so it all worked out. Honestly, though... I know that's a really self conscious age, so I was still proud of them! Speaking of 4th grade boys... Joshua is heading full speed into the preteen years - and he's only 9!!!!!!! I have a really sweet story I'd love to share, but I know my 9 year old well enough to know he'd be mad at me if I talked about this without his permission. I barely got his permission to tell his dad, lol, so I don't think he'd be keen on me sharing. However, it was right around Valentines Day, so I'm sure you can get the basic idea!!! My kindergartener has been quite the handful lately. He's been fighting a cough, and he's always less than pleasant when he's not feeling well. He hasn't been able to see his dad much, so he's been acting out because of that, too, so it's been lovely at my house. We've gone from one extreme to the other. Massive hissy fits all the way to him reorganizing his t-shirt drawer to make me happy.... In fact, just yesterday, he managed to get one of those googly eyes for crafts lodged in one of his ears. Not only was he unable to hear on that side, but when he shook his head, you could hear the googly eye rattling around........... that was one to remember for when he brings a girl home for dinner!!! So, that's just the excitement since the weekend! I will say, though, that I managed to hit every single light green on my way into work this morning! That's never happened before, so thank God for small favors!!

October thus far...

Ok, so it's actually only October 3rd, but since it's been FOREVER since I posted, I figured I didn't want to overwhelm myself :) Here's what's happening in Holman Land - the condensed version..... Rick - looking for a "real job" to supplement the "oh so seasonal" moped rental business. He's not picky - we have bills to pay and my income doesn't quite cut it. Feel free to send job leads this way. He's done sales for YEARS with the mopeds. He's also gearing up for the start of Cub Scouts.... Joshua is a Webelos 1 this year, which is so close to Boy Scouts and a little overwhelming from a leader standpoint (well, at least from and Assistant Den Leader standpoint... Rick's probably not worried in the least!) Amanda - busy working, Cub Scout Fundraising, Assistant Den Leadering, organizing, staying on top of the family and their various social engagements, and trying to keep her head above water.... It's only been a month... I'm still trying to get a handle on things. I'll get it all figured out just in time for it to slow down again :) Joshua - is a 4th grader!!!!! Yikes! A ridiculously smart 4th grader, who is just starting to get a little bit of a preteen attitude. Not such a fan of that... I'm sure it will get worse before it gets better, but goodness - he's only 9 years old! I thought I had more time.... He is currently selling magazines for school and popcorn for Cub Scouts, so if you're interested, let me know and I'll pass the info along. Logan - trying to figure out this whole "kindergarten thing". Nah... actually he's pretty much a pro. He gets upset because he's not in school long enough each day, LOL! I wonder how long before he starts complaining that school is "too long"??? He loves his teacher but seems to spend an awful lot of time playing by himself (as in, "who did you play with today?" "no one. none of the other kids wanted to play with me" or "no one. I played by myself.") I'm not sure if he's exaggerating just a smidge (he's been doing that a lot lately, too.....) or if I need to send his teacher an email. I might just stop by his classroom on Friday afternoon, but I digress, lol. Riley Roo - lays around a lot, looking very annoyed at the puppy. I think she's too old for this "nonstop playing" crap! Coco (aka the puppy) - is definitely half horse. She is SO HUGE (like a Great Dane should be!), but she still thinks she's a teeny tiny lap dog. She has no concept of her size and gets into all kinds of trouble and knocks everything off my coffee tables, lol!! Well, that's about it from this neck of the woods. I'd love to say I'll be more consistent, but I hate to make promises I might not be able to keep! Suffice it to say, we'll just have to see what happens with the "keeping up on the blog" thing!!

Mother's Day

To all the moms out there, how are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? I'm spending mine at an indoor water park with my super cool husband and amazing boys :)

My 8 year old was extremely determined to be a top reader in his grade during the month of March - the kid logged 13 hours of reading for the month! The goal for third graders was 300 minutes (6 hours) and he blew that right out of the water. His prize was a free pass to the water park at the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury.

Sounds like a good way to spend Mother's Day to me :)

The weather is supposed to be amazing. I hope all my great mom friends out there have wonderfully special days with the ones they love most.