Day 14~ Fraud Protection

Yes, tonight I am very grateful for the fraud protection on my ATM card! Bank of America came through tonight and called when "unusual" activity showed up on my card. Thinking it was probably set off from our trip to Vegas, I called only to find out that was not the case. Luckily, no money was withdrawn (they were only at the "test" phase) and I was able to cancel that card and order another one. I will gladly wait the time it takes to mail me a new one for the peace of mind knowing that our account is safe.

Day 13~ Jib Jab anyone?

We love ourselves some Jib Jab Elves. I am thankful for the entertainment it provides us every year! It's always a countdown once November hits to when the Elves are ready. We were so happy to see a new holiday performance available today! Here are the O'Connors doing their best hair band act! A little something to get you in the holiday spirit (and something that provides hysterical laughter from the girls- which I can't get enough of!)

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Day 12~ Sisters!

Today I am thankful for my sister. She is an amazing and beautiful woman and I’m very happy that we are so close. Sara is 5 years younger than me. My mom says it was like having two only children when we were growing up because we were in completely different places and had completely different interests.

Sara has a great talent of being calm in a storm. She has an awesome sense of humor and she will always listen when I need someone to talk to. I am grateful for the friendship we have. We’ve always believed the statement; “Chance made us sisters, hearts made us friends”.

My mom is very close with her sister too. There are several more years between them, but they have always been very close. Just as my grandmother and her sister were close. Here is a picture of three generations of sisters- my grandma and her sister, my mom and her sister, my sister and me. And here are the present 3 generations of sisters- my mom and her sister, my sister and me, and the triplet sisters. The second picture is from our last night in Connecticut this past June.

Sisters play an important role in our family and I can only hope that my girls will have a similar bond throughout their lives. Sisters are forever I tell them!

Day 11~ Veterans!

I think its safe to say that everyone today is thankful for our nation's veterans! What we need to remember is to be thankful for them the other 364 days of the year! Several of them are in my own family and very close friends. In fact- we are a strong military family on both sides (Rick's and mine) and represent all branches of the military. Here are a few of many veterans, past and present:

My dad was in the army. He is my hero.Dad when stationed in Germany. My mom and dad still have reunions every other year with the couples they met while serving in Germany. Their most recent reunion was last month in San Diego.

My dad's dad, Louis was also in the military and that is how my grandparents met~ they were pen pals during WWII. We have all the letters that my grandfather sent to my grandmother. She numbered them and had them in order. It truly is amazing to read their relationship form and blossom through letters!

My mom's family has many veteran's also. My uncles served in the Navy. My grandfather, Irvin was a merchant marine. Here he is with his father, Knudt. Many others on my mom's side were in the Coast Guard. Some even went on to work for Electric Boat, building our nation's submarines! We got to visit the Submarine Museum while in CT this year. Uncle Carl walked Emily through all the buttons. She was ready to set sail! We got to tour the USS Nautilus. The first nuclear powered sub. My great-grandmother, Grace Mahoney had the honor of christening (or sponsoring) the USS Cod in 1943. Here is a photo of the commemorative postmark from the date she sponsored it. This was an important event for our family and my great-grandmother was very proud to have had this honor.

Rick's family has his paternal grandfather who was a career Marine. His uniform was on display at his funeral a couple years ago. Rick's maternal grandparents both served in the army. His grandmother, Betty was a nurse. His grandfather, Miles, was a warrant officer.

When Rick's grandmother passed away a few years ago the family presented Rick with the American flag that was on her casket. We know she was proud of her time served and we are proud to remember her and all our family members that have served.

And here is our most recent family addition to the military! My cousin, Josh entered the United States Air Force this year. We had the pleasure of getting to spend some time with him while we were in Connecticut, before he enlisted. We are so grateful to Josh for his service. The Air Force is lucky to have him! We think of him and pray for his safety daily.

It takes a special person to decide to enter into the military. It is not easy and the challenges and sacrifices are great. We are so thankful to all the men and women (and their families) that have served and currently serve to keep our country safe. Thank you!

sorry for the delay!

Sometimes the best laid plans don't go as planned! We just got home from spending 4 days in Las Vegas! It was an amazing weekend! I brought my laptop with me with all intentions of posting. Well- the internet wasn't free in the hotel! yeah- threw me for a loop too! So I have some great posts that I will be posting tomorrow after work as I am off to bed! But I bet you can guess that one of those posts will be that I am grateful for VACATION!!! :o)

Day 10~ 4 day weekend!

YIPPEEEE!!! We have a four day weekend! I will post tomorrow about the occasion for this weekend- but can I just say I couldn't run out of work fast enough today to start my holiday weekend. Technically I have work on Friday- but my awesome teaching partner has agreed to work the whole day. The girls have the day off so we have some exciting plans. Mostly- I'm looking forward to some down time with my family (Rick is even getting some much needed time off). We are still battling the bronchitis- every one is feeling better and we are hitting it hard with medicine and TLC. Happy, happy, happy! Thank you 4 day weekend!

Day 9~ Modern Medicine!

It has been a rough couple of days/nights in our house.

We had Emily sick last week with a cough that lasted almost 2 weeks. Now overlapping that, Madeline has had a cough for over a week and Ashley started coughing last night.

Sigh... coughing kids = little sleep.

Thank goodness we have a nebulizer at home that allows us to give breathing treatments to the girls. When they get sick we have to be on top of things and give a treatment every four hours! I can't tell you how many trips to the ER this little machine has prevented! We did land at the doctor's today and Madeline has bronchitis. Poor thing has a tummy ache from coughing so much. She has been set up with a nice round of antibiotics and heavy duty cough medicine for bedtime. Ashley is still walking a fine line between healthy and sick so for her we just give the breathing treatments for preventative measures. Emily had an ear infection with her cough and has completed her round of antibiotics. She seems to be back to normal.


Over the summer, Ashley and Madeline had ear tubes put in. The procedure was relatively quick and was done on an outpatient basis from our hospital. Both girls we STARS! We had both girls have their procedures the same morning. Emily stayed with my parents and kept them busy! It's something we have hemmed and hawed over for a couple years- but when we hit May this year and both STILL had ear infections from March that we could not clear up, we knew it was time. The great news is that both girls had CLEAR ears today!!! Despite being sick- their ear tubes are doing their jobs! Yes- I wish we would have done it sooner, but I am still so grateful that we did it this summer. They have been great about keeping their ears dry and reminding me to put their ear plugs in at bath time. We also bought these "cool" headbands for them to wear when they are swimming to help keep the ear plugs in place. We only got to use them once this summer because our weather stunk, but we had a fun day when we did! I am so thankful to have the ability to treat my children for their illnesses, at home for the most part, and for the fact that we can avoid the ER (aka GERM area!) as much as possible! ;o)