Saturday, September 6, 2008

Summer Ends, School Begins

First Day of School!

Bye Bye!

Current Picture of Butterscotch



Hi Friends & Family,

It is amazing how quickly time passes by. My intention was to blog once a month, but the last time I posted was in June! I'm not too terribly consistent, am I?

Our summer was fairly uneventful as far as going anywhere or doing anything. When we brought our new puppy home from the local animal shelter at the beginning of June, we had no idea that he was sick, or how sick he was going to get. To make a very long story kind of short, what we thought was a simple upper respiratory infection turned into Pneumonia, and then we realized, was actually Distemper. He spent 8 days at the vet and has been slowly recovering since July 10Th, the day he came home from the vet. He barely survived the Pneumonia part of the disease, but then he became afflicted with all of the terrible parts of Distemper such as seizures, involuntary chomping of the jaw, tremors, and muscle weakness. This all happened when he was at the vet for 8 days. Amazingly, he barely hung on, but he made it. He began to improve somewhat but was depressed and had a hard time doing any of the things a 4 month old puppy was supposed to do. Several weeks ago, I found a wonderful Homeopathic vet through one of the Mannatech Cd's on animals. Dr. Young is in Florida but he does phone consulting and also works with the animal's current vet if necessary. Dr. Young, who has had over 50 years of vet experience had me go to the local health food store and buy all sorts of things I had never heard of. Plus, he sent me some things and I also gave Butterscotch Mannatech. Well I have to tell you, it wasn't a full week before big changes started happening. Now, close to three weeks later, Butterscotch is like a completely different dog! He is no longer depressed, he licks himself, scratches himself, plays, runs, etcetera, etcetera. Yesterday he even stood up on his hind legs with his feet up on the inside of the dishwasher to try and lick the forks as I was loading it! That is a big deal for a little dog who could barely stand on his own four legs a month ago. So . . . there is plenty of hope now now. It will be a long process and he has some teeth/mouth issues the lovely Distemper has now left us to deal with but he is miraculously better and better! What I often think about is how one person, who did not initially properly care for this little 5 pound dog caused all of this trauma for the dog and our family. Anyway, water under the bridge I guess.

The kiddo's are back in school. Their first day was September 2ND. Landon is in 1st grade already and I am baffled at how my little man got there so darn fast!! Sometimes I really miss his baby days. Emmie is in 3rd grade already and I can't get my mind around that either! In my mind, she is still in first grade! Savannah has officially entered Jr. High School and is in the 6Th grade. They are all attending Jordan Christian Academy. Last year there were 34 students and this year there are 50 so far! JCA is a small Christian school in their third year that has been growing every year!

Kevin's Integrity Home Inspection business is going great, which we are most grateful for. Usually business slows down to a slow crawl, but not this summer. It has been keeping Kevin quite busy. Aside from that, he bought a bike this summer and has been trying to ride it in the morning but even in the morning it is hot, hot, hot here in the desert!

I am still working my Emmie-Lou Designs business pretty consistently but I did slow down in the summer as it is hard to keep up with the kids at home. I am currently gearing up for Christmas as that is my busiest time of year. Did I actually say Christmas??? Yikes!

Aside from that, it is pretty much family life as usual. Kevin is still the same funny, witty guy. I keep doing my day-to-day stuff. Savannah is threatening to become as tall as I am very soon and she is also starting ballet again in a few weeks. Miss Emma got a cute, short haircut and is ready for soccer. Landon, sweet as always will be in his first year of soccer this year and Kevin has decided to coach his soccer team. Even crazy, silly Ladybug is well, and so are the four fish that have joined our family. Of course you already know about little Butterscotch.
Some Moran Family Highlight's:

*All of the kids have lost lots of teeth this summer!

*It is hot!!!!

*We went to Big Bear for a few days. (That was our "vacation".)

*This summer consisted of movies and nursing Butterscotch back to health!

*Emmie got a cute new "bob" haircut for school.

*I have been doing a little scrap booking this summer and went on a scrap weekend.

*The kids got to spend some great time with their cousins.

*Did I mention it was hot?!

*Kevin has been busy, busy working. (It's a good thing!)

*Savannah is reading "Marley and Me" to me and the kids.

*I have been reading a lot! Lots of different books. (Currently reading, "Homeopathy Beyond Flat Earth Medicine." by Timothy Dooley, "Fatal Burn" by Lisa Jackson, and "You The Owner's Manual" by Roizen & Oz)

*The kids are happy to be back in school!

*We bought 9 pairs of school shoes.

*We saw "Henry Poole is Here" and liked it!

*I am getting back into being at home by myself mode. It is so quiet here!

* Did I tell you how hot it still is???

Thanks for letting me blog at you!
Lots of love,

Michelle & Family

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Summer Vacation

Grandpa Moran & Kids
Kevin & Aunt Bridget

Grandpa & Savannah at her ballet recital

Emma & Butterscotch (first day home)

Hi Everyone,

I have not blogged for awhile. Life has been busy. How do our lives get that way?

School is out and we are entering our second week of summer vacation. I am looking forward to spending some time relaxing with the kids and just enjoying our summer. We don't have any huge plans but that's okay, just as long as we can stay cool. The temperatures have already hit 115 - 120 degrees. Hot, hot, hot!!!!!

We adopted a new puppy from the local Animal Shelter last week. He is a little 3 month old Cocker Spaniel mix we are told. He is white with cream markings so we have named him Butterscotch. Unfortunately, he has an upper respiratory infection which is not uncommon in dogs from shelters. He was neutered the day that he came home and I believe that it really compromised his little immune system. We had been visiting him for nearly a week before he came home and everything seemed fine with him until then. He is currently on antibiotics so I am hoping that will be all he needs as this infection has the potential to turn into Pneumonia. He is such a sweet little thing.

The kids came home with lots of great certificates and awards from their Awards and Promotions Ceremony at school. Savannah even received the Principals Award, which is quite an honor.

Grandpa Moran was here from Oregon for 10 days, which was a nice treat for all of us! Even Ladybug, our Greyhound/Whippet/Saluki mix loved him. It was nice because he was able to spend time getting to know the kids, and he even got to attend Savannah's ballet recital, and spend Father's Day with us. Hopefully we didn't wear him out too much! Even Kevin's Aunt Bridget (Grandpa's sister) was here for the weekend. We loved spending a few days with her also!

My website is in the process of getting a new face lift. I like the new look and hope to add some new jewelry as time permits throughout the summer. I have been working on some hand-stamped sterling silver jewelry.

Here are a few happening's here at our house:

*Landon loses his second top tooth.

*Aunt Bridget and Grandpa Moran come for a visit.

*Savannah loses a molar.

*Savannah dances in her ballet recital.

*All of the kids get awards for their amazing work at school.

*All of the kids get amazing report cards; this earned them a new Nintendo D.S. game.

*Butterscotch came to live with us.

*Emma's water snail "Sammy" died.

*We saw Kung Foo Panda last week.

*The weather is abnormally hot this time of the year (115 - 120 degrees)!

*We have been swimming at the pool.

*The kids finished Vacation Bible School last week.

*Kevin has been busy at work (which is unusual at this time of year).

*We had both grandpa's here for Father's Day.

*I am getting into the summer "groove".

Our life might be boring, but it's definitely good!

Lots of love,

Michelle & Family

Friday, February 22, 2008

Moran February Family News . . .

The Best brownies ever!
ACSI District Spelling Bee
Me, my Mom and Sister
Friends & Family

Me & Kevin

Happy February!

How did we get more than halfway through this month already? I can tell that 2008 is going to race by me just as fast as 2007 did!

I guess the biggest Moran family news is that I turned 4o on the 15Th. I am still trying to get my mind around that one. It seems unreal. In fact I have to confess that when I go to the gym and get on the treadmill, the program asks for my weight and age and I still cannot bring myself to put 40 as my age. Talk about playing mind games with myself. Who am I kidding anyway? Me????? We'll see, maybe by March I will be ready to take the leap, and enter "40", but for now I am going to continue to happily "fool" myself.

My birthday was great, completely filled with love. And the kids, I cannot believe how secretive they were. Kevin was also quite the "cool" cucumber about everything too. I never knew he COULD be so cool! It started with a nice big box on my bed, which contained the Cricut Personal Cutter. If you scrapbook at all, you know how excited I was! I have been dying to get one for the longest time, so it was a wonderful surprise!!!! I had lunch with my mom, and then those sneaky kids of mine had packed their bags ahead of time because they spent the night at my sister's house so that Kevin and I could have a nice, quiet dinner and a movie. Can anyone say heaven?? The next afternoon I was going to have lunch with several of my girlfriends, but when we got to the restaurant, there were a few more friends and family there then I had anticipated. I never caught onto any of it so it was a complete and utter surprise. Everyone contributed a scrapbook page and my friend Linda put it all together. Being a scrapbooker myself, I know what went into doing that. What can I say, my birthday was filled with an amazing amount of love that I am so blessed and thankful for. It has made me decide that maybe "40" isn't so bad after all. It was a birthday that I won't soon forget.

The girls both went to the ACSI Spelling Bee February 1st. Wow! Was I proud of them. Both girls spelled against 27 0r so other kids. This was a big deal! Savannah and Emma both placed 4th and were awarded a yellow ribbon!! This was Savannah's 5Th year at the Bee, and Emma's 1st year.
Everything and everyone else is doing well. Kevin works hard to keep us in the lifestyle to which we are accustomed, and I am still here making jewelry. I have a few new things I am working on and I recently purchased some copper findings to add to the mix also. Aside from that, I am the wife, mommy, cook, house cleaner, clothes washer, etc. Sure I get tired now and again, but truthfully, I really wouldn't want my crazy life any other way.

Love,

Michelle, Kevin, Savannah, Emma & Landon